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Abstract

Information law in the digital world presents libraries with many legal challenges. Whether this is trying to enjoy the same types of rights in the digital era that they enjoyed in the analogue world, being able to embark on the mass digitisation of their 20th century collections under appropriate new laws, or simply continuing to offer internet access in the face of graduated response or three strikes enforcement legislation. This article seeks to give a high level overview of many of the legal developments (copyright, contract law, legal deposit, and IPR enforcement) that have affected libraries in the last five to ten years. The views expressed in the article are the author’s alone.

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Libraries on the Net and the Political Landscape
  • Whither Library and Research Exceptions?
  • Mass Digitisation, the Law and Libraries
  • Data Analytics and the Granularisation of Knowledge
  • Electronic Legal Deposit
  • Regulation of the Internet v Access to Knowledge
  • Conclusion

First Published in 2011, t.LXXXII, 1-4. Archives et Bibliothèques de Belgique / Archief – En Bibliotheekwezen in België 

CC BY 3.0