Rights Management in Digital Libraries JoAnne Rocker The purpose of this paper is to address the complex issues of intellectual property protections in the digital age. Electronic mediums make downloading and distributing works quick and easy. Authors, publishers, and users of digital libraries all have a stake in determining the fair and economical means of sharing information. This paper analysis the current state of copyright law, what's at stake for authors, publishers, and users of digital libraries, and what are some possible solutions for protecting intellectual property. Government agencies being both author and publisher of scientific and technical reports have more latitude in disseminating information than do private publishers. As the government moves towards a paperless society, more and more government sponsored research is being distributed through report servers for public consumption. Copyright has not been an issue in making reports freely available. However, with the push for technology transfer between the government and the private sector, questions will arise over who owns the results of research. Contractors are now being able to copyright their research papers. This will have an impact on the current model of distributing information with implications for government agencies like NASA. Private publishers have different issues to face in creating digital libraries and protecting copyright. Publishers have a stake in how their digital works are disseminated. They are economic incentives to limit access to their information. Authors need to be compensated for their effors and protected from pirating of their work. Legislation such as the Copyright Act of 1976 grappled with the issues of copyright protections and the concept of fair use. The National Information Infrastructure Task Force Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights' White Paper tried to clarify intellectual property protections that the Copyright Act of 1976 did not address. With the advent of digital libraries, intellectual property protections are an integral part of the design and distribution of the digital content. Bibliography Ardito, Stephanie C. "Electronic copyright under siege, " Online, Sept/Oct., 1996: pp. 83-88. Berghel, Hal and Lawrence O'Gorman. "Protecting ownership rights through digital watermarking, " Computer, July, 1996: pp. 101-103. Choy, D. M. , et. al. "A Digital Library System for Periodicals Distribution." Proceedings of the ADL' 96 (IEEE, 1996): pp. 95-103. Diamond, Edwin and Stephen Bates. "Law and Order comes to Cyberspace, " Technology Review, October, 1995: pp. 22-32. Hill, Richard. "Addressing Intellectual Property Issues and the White Paper," Communications of the ACM, v.39, no.5: pp. 32-33. Samuelson, Pamela. "Intellectual Property Rights and the Global Information Economy," Communications of the ACM, v. 39, no.1: pp. 23-28. Schatz, Bruce, et. al. "Federating Diverse Collections of Scientific Literature, " Computer, May, 1996. Weiner, Robert S. "Copyright in a Digital Age: Practical Guidance for Information Professionals in the Midst of Legal Uncertainty, " Online, May/June, 1997: pp. 97-102.