Years from now, once we gain the benefit of perspective fostered by temporal separation, those of us who are concerned about libraries may look back at 2005 and declare it a watershed year. Certainly, epochal change has been discussed for some time, but last year a series of events occurred that ensured the dominant information format irrevocably changed from analog to digital. Consider the following:

• In September, a consortium of publishers and writers sued Google, alleging the search giant’s Book Search digitization project infringes several of the publishers’ exclusive copyright rights.
• In November, the Library of Congress announced it is creating the World Digital Library, an online collection of rare books, manuscripts, and other materials that would be freely accessible for viewing by anyone, anywhere with Internet access.
• Inspired by Project Gutenberg, the Web’s first and largest collection of e-books, Hugh McGuire creates LibriVox, a project whereby volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain, then transfer those recordings into .mp3 files that are made freely available on the Web.
• In May, an associate university librarian at the UCLA Library announced that library would discontinue buying 540 print titles and opt to receive those titles exclusively in electronic format. The move was announced as part of a cost-cutting initiative.
• For at least 18 months, the Association of American Publishers has been murmuring about alleged illegalities in the way university systems administer their electronic course reserve collections. AAP has yet to file a lawsuit, and may abstain from doing so while the Section 108 Study Group is preparing findings for the Librarian of Congress. The findings, which are due by the middle of this year, will investigate possible changes to Section 108 of the Copyright Act, the law that provides copyright exceptions for libraries and archives. It is possible, however, that if the Group does not develop recommendations the publishing industry approves, the publishing industry may launch a litigation campaign that would be similar to the music industry’s lawsuits against alleged illegal file sharers.

What do all of these events have in common? All the events affect libraries in significant ways, and all of them involve a complex understanding of copyright law. From digitization projects to interlibrary loan, from electronic reserves to electronic books, the impact of copyright law on librarianship no longer can be ignored.

Why, then, have the nation’s accredited graduate library science programs categorically failed to provide copyright law instruction?

K. Matthew Dames. Library Schools & Fill the Copyright Knowledge Gap. Information Today. February 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“[Sen. John E.] Sununu, an MIT grad, interrupted to ask the question so far unconsidered by his colleagues: Do we need this mandate at all?

He pointed out that ‘we have a whole history of similar technological innovation that has shown us that the market can respond with its own protection to the needs of the artists.’ And he concluded with one of the most damning depictions of the ahistorical nature of the flag you’ll hear on the Hill:

The suggestion is that if we don’t do this, it will stifle creativity. Well…we have now an unprecedented wave of creativity and product and content development…new business models, and new methodologies for distributing this content. The history of government mandates is that it always restricts innovation…why would we think that this one special time, we’re going to impose a statutory government mandate on technology, and it will actually encourage innovation?

EFF Deep Links. History and Senator Stevens’ iPod. Jan. 25, 2006.

See also:

Federal Communications Commission. In the Matter of: Digital Audio Broadcasting Systems And Their Impact on the Terrestrial Radio Broadcast Service. (.pdf, 300 KB) April 20, 2004.

J.D. Lasica. Will Radio Be Napsterized? Mindjack. May 24, 2004.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“Apple Computer will allow any college or university to set up a customized portion of the iTunes Music Store to distribute course content and other audio and video material. The free service will let institutions limit use of some materials to certain people and make other content available to all.

“The service, called iTunes U, will allow colleges to set up collections of materials that can be accessed using the free iTunes software, but that can be customized with the college’s colors, logos, and photographs. The service was announced [last week].”

Jeffrey R. Young. Apple Releases Free ‘iTunes U’ Software to Colleges for Coursecasting. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Jan. 25, 2006.

Updates:

if:book. iTunes U: More Read/Write Than You’d Think. Feb. 22, 2006.

May Wong. Apple’s iTunes Expands Podcast Service for Universities. MercuryNews.com. Jan. 27, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.