I heard it at CiL 2008 and have heard it talked about on blogs. There seems to be and obsession with DRM (Digital Rights Management) with many librarians and with some of the general public. Since I come from a business background I don’t quite understand all the huff amongst librarians. Following is a reply I made to a post on another blog regarding DRM that kind of encapsulates my current thoughts on the issue:
The above comments offer great insights into the whole libraries and DRM issue, but I have a little bit to add, even though I am a public librarian.
Many academic institutions are moving towards a more open standard, which I fully applaud. Harvard Law School is an example in the academic realm that is starting to use CC to open up their materials to a wider public and improve the dissemination of knowledge. But in my humble opinion, academia and the “real” world should not be lumped together.
When discussing DRM and who is pushing it, the finger can not just be pointed at the publishers. Any real discussion must include the authors of the materials. If authors where interested in producing works truly free of any form of DRM, then they would not be sending their works to the publishers in the first place. Why bother? Just type it up in your favorite word processor, attach a CC license to, make it a PDF file and put it online. Done no DRM!
But the reality, as we have all heard before, is that self publishing CC content is not the way to get your books into libraries or make a decent living. The author – publisher relationship is a financial one and is not generally based on altruism. I seriously doubt that you would find one bestselling author today that would have rather been self published into obscurity and the poor house.
Authors need to be monetarily rewarded for their hard work. They to have families to feed and bills to pay just like you and me. To imagine a totally DRM free world is simply unrealistic. Would you go to work tomorrow and every day for the rest of your life for free? I sure wouldn’t.
I welcome you thoughts and opinions on this issue and or my response.
Posted on librarian in black 5/18/08
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