Intellectual Property and Open Movements (IP&OM)

Issues and developments related to Intellectual Property (e.g. Copyright, Fair Use, Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets) and Open Movements (e.g. Open Access, Open Data, Open Educational Resources (OER)), examined in the "Intellectual Property and Open Movements" and "Ethics of Data, Information, and Emerging Technologies" graduate courses I teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. -- Kip Currier, PhD, JD

Showing posts with label librarians call for boycott. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Fury over 'stupid' restrictions to library ebook loans; Guardian, 3/1/11

Benedicte Page, Guardian; Fury over 'stupid' restrictions to library ebook loans:

"Furious librarians are calling for a boycott of publisher HarperCollins over its decision to put a limit on the number of times its ebooks can be loaned.

Under the new policy, announced by distributor Overdrive in a letter to customers last week, libraries will only be able to lend out each purchased ebook published by HarperCollins a total of 26 times before the book's lifetime expires.

The development has led to an explosion of anger among librarians, who up until now have been able to lend any ebook as often as they like – just as they do with print copies. Loans are generally made via the library's website, with users gaining access via a PIN number, and downloaded ebooks remaining live for a two-week loan period."