Intellectual Property and French Libraries: American Lessons and European Opportunities

The traditions of intellectual property rights and the economic stakes are different for libraries on either side of the Atlantic. The orientation towards the publication of copyright and the importance of acquisition budgets permit American librarians to have an influence on the future organization of the distribution of electronic documents. The rights of the author and the modest role of French libraries in the economics of publishing lead, on the contrary, to debates and misunderstandings in relation to the current stakes. The signing of the Berne Treaty and the European harmonization opens up the new legal perspectives for French libraries, if they know how to take hold of the opportunities which present themselves.
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