Copyright Renewal for Libraries: Seven Steps Toward a User-Friendly Law

Copyright law is a source of a great deal of bewilderment and frustration to academic librarians. Beyond the basics of copyright protection and fair use, most librarians struggle to grasp the complexity of the law and the roadblocks it presents to access and use. This article attempts to elucidate some of those complexities by suggesting seven steps toward copyright reform that would make the law more useful for libraries. These suggestions address such issues as the predictability of the application of copyright law, specific exceptions for libraries, and ways to ensure that more copyrights remain in the hands of authors.