Book review: ‘Digital Libraries: Reconciling Copyright Law and Cultural Heritage Policy’, Estelle Derclaye (ed.)

Copyright law and cultural heritage policy are an odd couple. Although they have
the same aims – or, more accurately, should have the same aims – they are often
in conflict. Cultural heritage policy aims to preserve and make accessible works
that are deemed to be part of our shared culture – books, articles, pictures,
paintings, photographs, music, recordings, films, statues, architecture, and the
like. However, copyright grants an exclusive right to the rightsholder to
reproduce or disseminate such works. Therefore, to achieve cultural heritage
policy goals in respect of recent copyrighted material often requires the consent of
the copyright owner.