Re: copyright under stress

On 6/20/2000, Tyler Ochoa <tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu> wrote:
>
> I think there is a great deal of difference from a copyright owner's
> standpoint. The tangible nature of the original copy limits the scope
> of borrowing as a practical matter. Yes, in theory you can lend your
> copy of a book to 45,000 people; but practically speaking, you can't
> and you don't. I venture to say that a typical hard copy is lent to
> only a few people. Even library or rental copies are lent to only a
> few hundred people.

Which brings up another difference between hard copy and digital copies: hard copies deteriorate rapidly with use like lending, while digital copies are "renewed" with lending. Popular hard-backed books in libraries have limited life-spans, as do hard copy materials placed on course reserve in educational institutions. While a book can be preserved for hundreds of years under ideal conditions, it may not last long under other conditions. The copyright owner is under no obligation to sell you an object that will last for a particular length of time, much less forever. This is the flip side of "you buy the book, not the work" -- which is that you may need to buy the book more than once in order to have access to the work.

Karen Coyle                    karen.coyle[_at_]ucop.edu
  University of California Digital Library
  http://www.kcoyle.net        510/987-0567
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