Episode Eleven: Copyright

Linking Our Libraries

Topic of the Week: Copyright

• We will start off by looking at the history of copyright, and getting some ideas about how it has developed over time. Ownership is a big deal, and the rights of a creator to the products s/he has developed are important. Copyright helps to protect that absolute right to complete ownership, and also gives the rest of us some opportunities to use the material created.
• Copyright is federal law; so unlike most of what we discuss – it has specific meanings, and specific penalties for breaking these laws! (and they can be pretty steep – not jail but a lot of money)
• Federal law means it only applies to the US: every country has its own copyright laws and protections for intellectual property
• The specifics can be very tricky to master; but the basics are often the responsibility of a library to know and enforce (such as: as copyright applies to ILL of copies of articles in journals, or how photocopy machines can violate http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/copyright-libraries-photocopy-machines.html )
• As technology changes, and formats change, violations of copyright and intellectual property become both more difficult to enforce and difficult to regulate

Check out our website for a LOT of information! We have dozens of links to materials we discussed here, information on copyright in libraries, copyright with new technology, and training your patrons in copyright rules.