Libraly Journal

Libraly Journal ›› 2024, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (399): 20-27.

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Rethinking Library Copyright Exceptions under the Eraof Digital Resources: From the Perspective of EnsuringPublic’s Free Access to Information

Zhu Ruohan1, 2 (1 The Higher People’s Court of Hubei Province; 2 Law School, Huazhong Universityof Science and Technology)   

  • Online:2024-07-15 Published:2024-07-25
  • About author:Zhu Ruohan1, 2 (1 The Higher People’s Court of Hubei Province; 2 Law School, Huazhong Universityof Science and Technology)

Abstract:

With the policy of promoting digitization of cultural works in China, the innovation of howknowledge should be supplied generates new requirements for library to fulfill its social function of culturalsecurity. When facing the massive demand for the transformation of copyrighted works offline, copyrightowners chose to apply technical measures to electronic copyrighted works to regulate the controlled lendingof online resources and prevent copyright infringement in advance. However, the general applicationof technical measures also causes certain obstacles to the application of the traditional library copyrightexceptions. The public cannot claim the infringement exemption any more on the grounds of fair use. Theexceptions of technical measures, as a continuation of the local system of library exception rules in thedigital environment, can restore free access to information for the public by adjusting the exclusive controlof information resources. As to the specific institutional arrangement, legislators could add a new exceptionof technical measures for “non-profit library, coordinating it with the existing types of fair use, and makingsure it would not be excluded from the private autonomy in contract.