Digital content has made research easier and quicker, and, as the technology improves, we will be able to do even more with our data. University libraries have seen a mixed blessing: information has never been more easily provided to patrons, but retaining access to it for the long term has never been more difficult. Technological, social, and legal issues complicate the preservation of digital content. Analog media had straightforward freedoms: the rights to trade, sell, backup, and share the original. Digital media is much more difficult, with problems stemming from complicated licensing agreements, copyright restrictions, and digital rights management (DRM). In some cases, 'buyers' do not actually own the content that they �purchase,� restricting what they can do to preserve it. In other cases, the laws themselves keep individuals and institutions from taking advantage of legal rights, such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's criminalization of bypassing DRM for backup and preservation purposes.

Right to retain: The problems of preserving digital content

244th National Meeting (2012)

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