Digital Materials: Who Owns Them?
- Erik Cebrian
- Nov 23, 2021
- 2 min read
Copyright, intellectual property, and fair use were concepts librarians had to understand completely at all times. With the rapid movement of information that came with the digital age, librarians had to ensure their policies covered such provisions to protect the employees, patrons, and the library from copyright infringement. Licensing was also an issue of obtaining public performance licenses to play movies or theatrics for larger audiences (Irons on American Libraries).
We have had over twenty years of digital content, so it should not come as a shock that barely anything digitally obtained is truly owned. Shocker! If we read the Terms of Service offered in streaming services, we only have access to the digital catalog. We essentially stream our eBooks to our patrons (Sheehan on ALA Tech Source). Of course, we don't need licenses to loan or read physical books to the public. Libraries purchased a physical copy as part of the first-sale doctrine (ALA).
Suddenly, the world can copy materials digitally much faster than physical copies. Do we need licenses to loan books digitally or read them aloud? Well, yes and no. As librarians, we must support intellectual rights and property. The ability to produce works at an unfettered rate hinders the commercial gains of the authors, publishers, and all involved in the manifestation of new work. Yes, we need a license to allow digital access, likely protected by digital rights management software (Roncevic on American Libraries). No, we do not need a public performance license to use materials online, such as storytime or other educational purposes (Jaszi et al. on EdSurge). Thank goodness! Fair use allows for the educational use of materials within boundaries. Perhaps the debate on the gains of education versus the gains of commerciality is another issue, but for now, our law protects education first. I am biased for more educational rights than intellectual property rights. It was an issue pushed onto librarians due to technology, and I would rather fight for intellectual gain.
Thankfully, open access exists. Databases are expensive due to similar licensing issues. The 50 state librarians are in full support of digital open access (Kelley on The Digital Shift), and you should support too. A list of Open Access databases will be available in the Resources tab.
For more information on copyright laws, visit the U.S. Copyright Law page.
For a unique, lawyer-perspective on ownership v. licensing, visit Kyle K. Courtney's blogpost Libraries Do Not Need Permission to Lend Books.
For a libGuide on copyright information for librarians, visit this ALA page.
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