Intellectual Freedom & Privacy
Copyrights are the exclusive legal rights granted by a government to an author, editor, compiler, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to publish, produce, sell, or distribute copies of a literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, or other work, within certain limitations (fair use and first sale). Copyright law also governs the right to prepare derivative works, reproduce a work or portions of it, and display or perform a work in public. Such rights may be transferred or sold to others and do not necessarily pass with ownership of the work itself. Copyright protects a work in the specific form in which it is created, not the idea, theme, or concept expressed in the work, which other writers are free to interpret in a different way. A work never copyrighted or no longer protected by copyright is said to be in the public domain. (from ODLIS)
Fair use means conditions under which copying a work, or a portion of it, does not constitute infringement of copyright, including copying for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Understanding fair use conditions is definitely to librarians. It is also a very complicated topic. If interested, you can find more information from following links.
Standford Univeristy libraries, Copyright and Fair Use.
ALA Fair Use and Electronic Reserves
DMCA: Digital Millennium Copyright Act
EFF "Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)" Archive
The Future Of Copyright/Intellectual Property
Intellectual Freedom and Privacy
Intellectual Freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas. (ALA's Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A)
Like Intellectual Freedom, privacy is also an issue of information ethics. It is the right of an individual (or group) to keep information about personal and professional life from disclosure, especially to government and commercial enterprises, and to remain free from surveillance except as authorized under provisions of law. Therefore, librarians should follow concerned laws when they distribute patrons' information and make local information policies. You can find more information about this issue from the following links.
Adams, Dennis. "Literature for Children: Avoiding Controversy and Intellectual Challenge," Top of the News, Spring 1986, p. 304+
Baldwin, Gordon B. "The Library Bill of Rights: a Critique," Library Trends, Summer 1996, p. 7-27
Burt, David. "Policies for the Use of Public Internet Workstations in Public Libraries," Public Libraries, May 1997, p. 156-159
Caywood, Carolyn. "Censorproof Your Library," School Library Journal, 12/94, p.44
Cornog, Martha. "Is Sex Safe in Your Library? How to Fight Censorship," Library Journal, August 1993, p. 43-46
Elton, Catherine. "Balanced Books: the Religious Right's New Target," New Republic, May 5, 1997, p. 10-12
Fisher, Marshall Jon. "Moldovascam.com: Electronic and Telephone Fraud," Atlantic Monthly, September 1997, p. 19-22
Highes, Robert. "Free Libraries, Free Society," American Libraries, August 2002, p.48-51 -- In an AL exclusive, Robery Hughes, one of the world's most highly regarded cultural critics, warns of the threat of "patriotic correctness."
Aftab, Parry . Parent's guide to protecting your children in cyberspace -- New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000
Alfino, Mark & Pierce, Linda. Information ethics for librarians -- Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c1997
Baird, Robert M. & Rosenbaum, Stuart E. (editors). Pornography : Private Right or Public Menace? -- Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 1998
Robotham, John S. & Shields, Gerald. Freedom of Access to Library Materials -- New York, N.Y. : Neal-Schuman Publishers, c1982