Ken Whyte’s Globe and Mail op-ed on “throwing the book at libraries” over their effect on booksellers and authors is an outlier that is typically best left ignored. Days after the Globe devoted three pages to the op-ed decrying library book loans, there have been some notable responses from people such as Meera Nair and Brewster Kahle, but not even a tweet from groups such as the Association of Canadian Publishers, Access Copyright, or the Writers’ Union of Canada that the piece purports to support. I suspect that this is because there is no there there: libraries are widely regarded as essential community resources that play a critical role in learning, access to knowledge, community integration, and discovery of books. If anything, there is concern that libraries are facing significant budget cuts, which may adversely affect smaller and rural communities.
Post Tagged with: "libraries"
The Destruction of the Department of Fisheries Libraries
The Bibliocracy blog posts the results of a response to an order paper question on the Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s library system with very discouraging news: massive destruction of materials and no information on what was digitized.
61 Reforms to C-61, Day 55: E-Reserve Provisions Require DRM
The problems with the e-reserve provisions in C-61 extend beyond just the fair dealing concerns. In order to qualify for the exception, librarians are required to implement DRM-based solutions on the distribution of electronic materials. Yesterday I pointed to the provision that expressly permits digital reproduction. Section 30.02(3) adds two […]
61 Reforms to C-61, Day 54: E-Reserve Provisions Less Effective Than Fair Dealing
The Canadian library community has been one of the most outspoken critics of Bill C-61, expressing concern about (among other things) its impact on electronic delivery of materials. The Canadian Library Association press release on C-61 notes that:
Bill C-61 ignores the fact that the 2004 CCH Supreme Court Judgment already allows Canadian libraries to do desktop delivery of interlibrary loan. Bill C-61 requires libraries to lock up interlibrary loans with DRM tools, something that most libraries would not have the resources to accomplish. Bill C-61 alone would force many libraries back to delivering interlibrary loan via paper copies.
The CLA raises two important issues – the use of fair dealing for e-reserve policies as well as the effective requirement on librarians to use DRM for electronic delivery of materials. Today I will focus on fair dealing and e-reserve policies and save the DRM concerns for tomorrow.
61 Reforms to C-61, Day 34: TPMs – LAM and Educational Institution Limitations, Part Two
Yesterday's posting referenced the damages limitation for libraries, archives, museums, and educational institutions that limits their liability for "innocent circumvention" to an injunction only. It is worth asking why this principle does not extend to all Canadians. If the circumvention occurs for innocent purposes (ie. where the individual did not […]