About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

24 Colum.-VLA J.L. & Arts 115 (2000-2001)
Values Conflict in the Digital Environment: Librarians versus Copyright Holders

handle is hein.journals/cjla24 and id is 125 raw text is: Values Conflict in the Digital Environment: Librarians Versus Copyright Holders Laura N. Gasaway* INTRODUCTION Librarians share many values with creators and publishers of copyrighted works, but their interests and values sometimes conflict. Additionally, the core values of each group sometimes conflict with the goals of copyright law. While these conflicts have existed for centuries, they are escalating in the rapidly expanding digital environment, and the debate between the two groups is becoming increasingly acrimonious. Members of both groups often misunderstand copyright law and engage in overstatement, sometimes fairly gross overstatement. Librarians and content providers share a great many core values, and work symbiotically to promote common goals. Without publishers and producers, librarians would have little to offer their users because there would be no works of literature, no reference works, no videotapes and no databases. Without librarians, publishers would lack a valuable resource to make their works available, to publicize their works, to teach patrons how to use their works, and to preserve their works for posterity. Librarians, publishers, and producers share many core values about works of literature, the value of these works, and the importance of preserving them for future generations. Although librarians and authors often disagree on issues involving digital media, both parties realize the importance and value of information to people in the digital age, and both believe that information should be trustworthy and incorruptible. Both groups believe that publishers play a valuable role in making available to the public works containing information. The editorial work, the management of the peer reviewing process, and the distribution role played by publishers is crucial to the production of quality works, and both groups believe that publishers should be fairly compensated for these contributions. Despite sharing many common goals and values, significant disagreement exists between librarians and content producers and publishers. Librarians tend to view B.A. 1967, M.L.S. 1968 Texas Woman's University; University of Houston J.D. 1973. Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law, University of North Carolina. She wishes to thank Wayne A. Wiegand, Peggy Hoon, Kenneth Crews and L. Ray Patterson for their assistance with this article. Copyright © 2000 by Laura N. Gasaway. This article is based upon a speech given by Professor Gasaway at the 2000 Horace S. Manges Lecture, delivered on March 7, 2000 at the Columbia University School of Law.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most