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Copyright and Digital Libraries: Securing Access to Information in the Digital Age1

Copyright and Digital Libraries: Securing Access to Information in the Digital Age1
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Author(s): Christophe Geiger (University of Strasbourg, France)
Copyright: 2013
Pages: 16
Source title: Digital Rights Management: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Information Resources Management Association (USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2136-7.ch007

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Abstract

Challenged by new technology, copyright is currently in turmoil. Increasingly regarded by the general public as a curb to the universal dissemination of knowledge, it seems to have no alternative but to include access to information in order to meet the challenges posed by the knowledge society.3 It might even be its ability to bring together opposing but complementary views that will guaranty its durability in the future and whether it can adapt to a new economic, technological and social environment. Copyright law has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to new developments in the past and has the necessary tools to ensure that this continues to be the case in the future, although the massive technological changes will probably require rethinking the mechanisms for its implementation. It is, therefore, necessary not to think in terms of opposing rights, but of the complementary nature of copyright and the right of access to information, so as to reconcile the two, which is both necessary and desirable. The issue of how to accommodate those two rights is of course of particular importance for libraries that wish to use the fantastic opportunities of digital technologies to both preserve and make accessible works in a easy and cost effective way to the public. Conceiving an optimal legal framework, allowing digital libraries to expand while at the same time securing a fair return to creators and editors might therefore constitutes one of the main challenges for copyright in the digital age. Accordingly, it will be necessary, first of all, to reiterate a number of basic principles of copyright law and carry out a brief historical survey. A study will then need to be carried out of how the advent of the information society has changed the existing balances. This will be followed by a brief discussion of recent developments in the legal provisions currently in force. This in turn would lead us to consider both the changes necessary to those provisions to ensure better access to information as well as certain initiatives that are either under way or planned, with the aim of striking a balance between the interests involved.

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