Fergie's Tech Blog

Bloggers Rally Around Librarians Over DRM

Jennifer Guevin writes on the C|Net Blogma blog:

Librarians are worried that the rapid rise of digital rights management technology is threatening their ability to archive copyrighted works and lend them to multiple patrons. The British Library told the BBC they are concerned that excessive use of DRM could cause several problems.

For one, without legal exceptions for libraries, some DRM restrictions can limit their ability to lend digital media to users. Libraries currently have privileges that allow them to copy and distribute copyrighted items. But unless publishers produce unrestricted versions of digital material for libraries, they won't be able to exercise those privileges. Another concern is that, as technology advances and various software formats eventually become obsolete, copyrighted works can be lost if the technology is rendered useless before art moves into the public domain.

posted by Fergie @ 2/05/2006 09:48:00 AM