Rights issues in the digitization of library collections

Abstract

This chapter addresses the copyright issues that might arise in the digitization of materials held in academic library collections. Developing a clear understanding of the copyright status of digitized materials can be complicated, frustrating, and even at times, with orphan works, impossible, leading to the copyright conundrum. Nonetheless, when curating and managing digitized library collections, a copyright review and management plan should be followed to maximize the availability of open access and public domain items and minimize the confusion of researchers and the public when using such digitized objects. A copyright review protocol, or a map of how to proceed through the copyright analysis, will aid librarians in making decisions regarding what rights metadata to include for a digital work and will, in turn, aid patrons in determining how digitized works can be effectively used.