Nine PBS has won a court-ordered path to try to recover a digital archive that became inaccessible after its cloud storage vendor stopped providing access. Engadget reports that a judge this week ordered Iron Mountain to cooperate with the St. Louis PBS station in any way possible as it seeks to retrieve the data. The archive is substantial: Tom’s Hardware reports that Nine PBS stored more than 50TB of data with Open Source Storage, or OSS, covering more than 70 years of the organization’s history. Engadget, citing a lawsuit viewed by The Denver Post, says the trapped materials include TV shows, videos, photos and other digital cultural objects tied to St. Louis history. The breakdown began around the station’s contract with OSS. According to Tom’s Hardware, Nine PBS had worked with OSS and its predecessor since 2019 and intended to renew its contract on March 6, but the company did not respond and cut off access even though the station had 30 days to retrieve its data after the contract ended. Engadget similarly reports that Nine PBS learned in March that OSS was not renewing and that the station’s access was cut off immediately. Nine PBS then discovered that the OSS website was no longer available and that OSS was listed as delinquent with the Colorado Secretary of State, according to Tom’s Hardware. The station also learned that OSS used Iron Mountain’s services, prompting a demand letter asking Iron Mountain to preserve the data and offering to pay reasonable related costs. Tom’s Hardware reports that Iron Mountain initially did not confirm or deny possession of the data. The dispute then moved through multiple legal fronts. Tom’s Hardware reports that Nine PBS sued OSS and its leadership, paused that case after a person who said he represented a group that had acquired OSS contacted the station, and then continued after that contact ended. A court later ruled that Nine PBS had the right to access its data stored with OSS and that OSS should help transfer it to a new vendor, according to Tom’s Hardware. Iron Mountain became the next chokepoint because it hosted the data for OSS rather than under a direct contract with Nine PBS. Engadget reports that Iron Mountain has so far refused to hand over the data because its contract is with OSS, according to the lawsuit. Tom’s Hardware reports that Iron Mountain ultimately acknowledged holding the data, but then said OSS owned the stored data, leaving Nine PBS to sue Iron Mountain as well to ensure the materials were not deleted. Iron Mountain disputes any suggestion that it acted improperly. In a statement to Engadget, the company said it had acted appropriately and responsibly to safeguard customer data and honor its contractual commitments to OSS, and said it had been transparent with Nine PBS about its role and that it does not have access to the station’s data. The latest court order gives Nine PBS a procedural route, not a completed recovery. Engadget reports that the judge ordered Iron Mountain to cooperate and also required Nine PBS to identify a third-party vendor that can help access the data from Iron Mountain’s data center without harming data belonging to other OSS clients. If retrieval proves more complicated, the judge said another hearing would be scheduled, according to Engadget. Who benefits: Nine PBS benefits if the court-supervised process turns legal ownership into practical access to the archive. Third-party migration or recovery vendors may also be needed if the retrieval requires specialized handling inside Iron Mountain’s environment. Who's exposed: Organizations that keep important archives with a single cloud vendor are exposed if they lack independent backups or clear contractual retrieval rights. Iron Mountain is exposed to legal pressure from Nine PBS while also saying it must honor its contract with OSS and protect other customer data.