Publishers Weekly: “Maryland’s library e-book law is effectively dead. In a court filing this week, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said the state would present no new evidence in a legal challenge filed by the Association of American Publishers, allowing the court’s recently issued preliminary injunction blocking the law to stand, and paving the… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Copyright
CC publishes policy paper titled Towards Better Sharing of Cultural Heritage
Creative Commons: “Over the past few months, members of the Creative Commons (CC) Copyright Platform along with CC friends from around the world have worked together to develop a policy paper addressing the key high-level policy issues affecting access and sharing of cultural heritage, notably by galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs). In this blog… Continue Reading
The Fourth Amendment Limits of Internet Content Preservation
“Every year, hundreds of thousands of Internet accounts are copied and set aside by Internet providers on behalf of federal and state law enforcement. This process, known as preservation, ordinarily occurs without particularized suspicion. Any government agent can request preservation of any account at any time. Federal law requires the provider to set aside a… Continue Reading
Publishing Giants Are Fighting Libraries on E-Books
Sludge: “The Association of American Publishers filed suit to block a new Maryland law that aims to increase public libraries’ access to e-books, with support from a powerful copyright lobbying group…Libraries and schools worldwide have been increasingly lending out e-books and audiobooks, even before the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Over 500 million copies of digital… Continue Reading
U.S. Senators Introduce SMART Copyright Act to Combat Piracy
TorrentFreak: “U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Patrick Leahy have introduced the SMART Copyright Act of 2022. The bill requires online hosting services to implement standard technical protection measures, designated by the Copyright Office. Rightsholders see the proposal as a great step forward to protect creators, while opponents classify it as a filtering tool that will… Continue Reading
Artvee
About Artvee: “In the last few years, several major museums and libraries have instituted an open access policy by designating most or all of the public domain art in their collections with a creative commons license making them available for use for any purpose with no restrictions attached. We sort through and aggregate the best… Continue Reading
Connecticut Introduces Library E-book Bill
Publishers Weekly: “Connecticut has become the latest state to introduce a library e-book bill, introducing bill 131 in its February session. The Connecticut bill is similar to efforts in other states now underway, in that it would require publishers who offer an e-book to consumers in the state to also offer to license the works… Continue Reading
Court Blocks Maryland’s Library E-book Law
Publishers Weekly: “In a rebuke to Maryland state legislators, a federal judge has granted the Association of American Publishers’ motion for a preliminary injunction, blocking Maryland officials from enforcing the state’s new library e-book law. “It is clear the Maryland Act likely stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment of the purposes and objectives of… Continue Reading
Academic Journal Claims it Fingerprints PDFs for ‘Ransomware,’ Not Surveillance
Vice: “One of the world’s largest publishers of academic papers said it adds a unique fingerprint to every PDF users download in an attempt to prevent ransomware, not to prevent piracy. Elsevier defended the practice after an independent researcher discovered the existence of the unique fingerprints and shared their findings on Twitter last week. “The… Continue Reading
Why Your Library Should Be All-In with Controlled Digital Lending
Medium – “…There are very specific industry guidelines that have been created about what percentage or how many chapters of a book can be placed on electronic reserve, and for how long, or how many times we’re allowed to order something through interlibrary loan before voluntarily paying a publisher extra. All those kinds of self-policing… Continue Reading
How University Libraries Can Protect Data and Scientific Freedom
The Wire Science: “Data tracking has long been a lucrative business model for many corporations. The fact that it also takes place in science is not so well-known, however. But here too, dangers are lurking for data protection and the freedom of science and research. And libraries also have a role to play, as stakeholders… Continue Reading
Libraries, Publishers Battle Over Terms for E-Books’ Use
Bloomberg Law: “States that want to give libraries a better deal on e-books are watching a publishers’ suit against Maryland, the first state to set terms for how digital books are distributed for public borrowing. Library associations, including the American Library Association and several state groups, have been pushing for state laws to require publishers… Continue Reading
