d information staff a reasonable proportion of a digital work in copyright for personal, educational or research use.
On Information Resource Sharing
IFLA believes that resource sharing plays a vital role in education, democracy, economic growth, health and welfare and personal development. It facilitates access to a wider range of information, which would not otherwise be available to the user, library or country requesting it. Resource sharing is not a mechanism to reduce costs but to expand availability to those who, for economic, technical or social reasons are unable to have access to the information directly. If a library has lawful access to a digital work, then providing access for any legitimate purpose such as research or study should be permitted under copyright law.
Non-commercial public lending is not an activity that has traditionally been controlled by copyright law but in some countries it has become a restricted act. Public lending is essential to culture and education. It should be available to all. Information packaged in all formats has and will become part of the lending stock. Lending in turn assists in the marketing of commercially packaged information and encourages sales. Libraries are, in effect, catalysts for the sale of information in all of its formats. Therefore, any legal or contractual restraints put on lending would be to the disadvantage of rights holders as well as to the libraries themselves. Unfortunately a precedent has been set with the European Union when lending was made a restricted act under copyright even though it is not an international requirement.
IFLA believes that the lending of published materials by libraries should not be restricted by legislation and that contractual provisions, for example within licensing agreements, should not override reasonable lending of electronic resources by library and information staff.
On preservation and conservation
Libraries collect and preserve information. In fact, the responsibility for preserving information and culture falls largely to the library and information profession.
Copyright law should allow libraries to copy protected material in order to preserve it and legislation should not prevent libraries from relying on new technology to improve preservation techniques and to make digitally preserved materials available to library users.
Legislation should give libraries and archives permission, where necessary, to convert copyright protected materials into digital format for preservation and conservation related purposes and libraries should be allowed to provide access to such materials as they would a book, including access both onsite and off-site.
On liability for copyright infringement
Although libraries as intermediaries have an important role to play in ensuring training and compliance with copyright law, liability should ultimately rest with the infringer. Copyright law should enunciate clear limitations on liability of third parties in circumstances where compliance cannot practically or reasonably be enforced.
On the licensing environment
The terms of contractual license agreements for copyright material should support public policies in such areas as copyright, privacy, intellectual freedom, and consumer rights. License agreements for information should not exclude or negatively impact users of the information by removing any statutory rights that may be granted by applicable copyright law. IFLA believes that licensing agreements should complement copyright legislation, not replace it.
National copyright legislation should render invalid any terms of a license that restrict
or override exceptions or limitations embodied in copyright law where the license is established unilaterally by the rights owners without the opportunity for negotiation of
the terms of the license by the user. At a minimum the license should permit users to read, download, and print materials for their own personal purposes, without restrictions.
On technological copyright protection measures
Copyright protection should encourage and not inhibit, 