Copyright, WIPO and user interests: Achieving balance among the shareholders

Abstract

Perhaps as much as any event, the WIPO conference held in 1996 reflects the convergence of all the potential inhibitors to the use of networked information and the development of digital libraries. Intellectual property, profits, technology, educational fair use, library fair use and development of the global information economy have all collided to create one of the most vexingly complex set of problems to resolve. Not the least of the difficulty arises from the fact that the stakeholders all have different goals but need one another to be successful in achieving them. It is clear that to achieve their somewhat divergent (if not contradictory) objectives, the stakeholders will have to extend the principles of copyright and develop new concepts of ownership, new systems of archiving, and new technology based solutions for scholarly communication. Above all, they will have to find “middle ground” if the outcome is to be successful. As Professor Prentice points out, we have seen Act I, and there is some reason for optimism that a way may be found the make incremental progress—CBL, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.