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Old 02-27-2011, 08:36 PM   #29
pietrocrazy
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Join Date: Feb 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton View Post
If a large enough consortium of libraries decided to abandon copyright, a lawsuit would be meaningless, not solely because libraries are public institutions, but also because this action would mandate a sea change towards the view of copyright in general.
I agree with you about the necessity for copyright reform, but I doubt libraries have as much power as you think they do. For one thing, libraries' being public institutions doesn't prevent them from being sued, at least in the US. With state and county budgets across the country already suffering greatly because of the recession, I doubt any library would really open itself up to such devastating lawsuits. Let's not forget we live in a bureaucracy.

Secondly, libraries, even if they were able to throw around their full weight, don't have nearly as much weight as you think they do, relative to every single other industry that depends on copyright and other so-called "intellectual property rights" and would defend them with every cent they have. Libraries don't really stand a chance in this hypothetical battle.
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