Copyright issues for repository libraries in the digital environment.

In the paper environment, repository libraries' main role is the management of physical stocks. In the digital environment, there is also a requirement for repositories, particularly trusted repositories which can manage digital copies on behalf both of rightsholders and the user community. Trust is required because digital technology enables not only the unlimited proliferation of exact copies without degradation but also both accidental and fraudulent alterations to the original. Copyright serves not only to protect the interests of rightsholders but to help enforce the relationships of trust which will be required. Copyright law encompasses both economic and moral rights, both of which can be upheld by trusted repositories. This is a new role for repository libraries, but every player in the information chain has to adopt new roles in the digital environment.