<
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/10/11/ebook-pledge-to-protect-libraries-authors-from-publishers-growing-abuse-of-copyright/>
"There’s a whole chapter of
Walled Culture the book (free digital versions
available) devoted to the serious attack on libraries and their traditional
functions that is being carried out by major publishers. The latter are using
digital copyright law to take advantage of the shift to eBooks by moving from
one-off sales to a recurrent licensing model. The Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21)
group are also concerned by what is happening here:
As publishers have moved away from selling physical works outright to
offering licences for access, exceptions and limitations in copyright law
risk being overridden by licence terms.
Libraries have as a result lost their right to buy books, maintain their
collections, and even undertake basic library functions such preservation
and lending books between libraries. Issues such as publishers refusing to
offer licenses, unsustainable prices many times higher than the that for the
equivalent paper book or CD, titles not available digitally, and even loss
of collection items purchased are not uncommon.
In order to combat this loss and protect libraries, KR21 has drawn up an eBook
pledge:
calling on publishers to sign up and adopt a set of principles laid out
therein, while of course continuing to support more user-friendly models,
including open eBooks. We also call on libraries and consortia to adopt the
eBook pledge principles when negotiating with publishers. By making these
principles part of the agreements they sign, including the rights to acquire
titles, engage in collection development, preserve collections, and lend to
the public and other libraries, libraries can continue to be beacons for the
dissemination of knowledge in the 21st Century."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
