Copyright and digital libraries

ABSTRACT

This issue of Communications highlights some of the many projects underway for the creation or enhancement of digital libraries. At the moment, no one seems to think there will be only one gargantuan digital library to sate the public's appetite for information. Rather, the expectation is that there will be many digital libraries, most of which will have specialized collections and will be internetworked together in a way loosely resembling today's Internet. Most digital library project planners are aware there are intellectual property issues that must be resolved in order to successfully deploy their libraries. Some proposals for digital library projects express an intent to resolve intellectual property issues as part of the overall plan for the library, albeit without much specificity about how this would be achieved in their systems [2, 4].

REFERENCES

• 1: Barlow, J.P.. The new economy of ideas.Wired 2.03. 85 (Mar. 1994).
• 2: Birmingham, W.P., Drabenstott, K.M. Frost, C.O. Warner, A.J., and Willis, K. The University of Michigan Digital Library: This is not your father's library. In Proceedings of the A CM Conference on Digital Libraries, (1994).
• 3: Ginsburg, J.C. Copyright without walls. Representations, 42, 53 (Spring 1993).
• 4: King, G., Kung, H.T.Grosz, B. Verba, S., Flecker, D., and Kahin, B. The Harvard self-enriching library (SELF) project. In Proceedings of the A CM Conference on Digital Libraries, (1994).
• 5: Litman, J. The exclusive right to read. Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 13, 29 (1994).
• 6: McKnight, C., Meadows, J. Pullinger, D. and Rowland, F. ELVYN--Publisher and library working towards the electronic distribution and use of journals. In Proceedings of the A CM Conference on Digital Libraries, (1994)
• 7: Patterson, L. R. Copyright In Historical Perspective. (1968).
• 8: Pamela Samuelson, The NII intellectual property report, Communications of the ACM, v.37 n.12, p.21-27, Dec. 1994 [doi>10.1145/198366.198372]
• 9: Samuelson, P. and Glushko, R.J. Intellectual property rights in digital library and hypertext publishing systems. Harv. J. Law & Techn., 6, 237 (1993).
• 10: Stix, G. The speed of write. Sci. Am. 106, (Dec. 1994).
• 11: Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights, Information Infrastructure Task Force. Green Paper: Intellectual property and the national information infrastructure, (Preliminary Draft, July 1994).

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.6 Library Automation
          Subjects: Large text archives

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.1 Network Architecture and Design

  J. Computer Applications
  J.7 COMPUTERS IN OTHER SYSTEMS

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.5 LEGAL ASPECTS OF COMPUTING
      K.5.0 General

General Terms:
Design, Legal Aspects, Management