[WEB4LIB] RE: AAP and librarians article

[Carol Bean]

Gary E. Masters wrote:

"The new law will be different.   I expect
that they will protect new material for as long as they can and let the
older stuff pass into the public domain.  If anyone can predict the time
frame for this (weeks or days or months) they may get rich.  But if we look
at movies with a process of first run, pay per view, cable, and video tape
in the process then home broadcast, we can get an idea of how it will look."

Despite the comparisons in the article, written stuff tends to have a longer
life than the entertainment field.  Wish I had a memory for authors, dates
and places, but there was a study done a few years ago (maybe multiple ones)
that showed journal articles don't even begin to be significantly used for
several years after publication, and continue to be regularly cited after 10
years. I think the trend of the Sonny Bono amendment is more what we'll be
facing with text media (of course, made to fit in with the electronic aspect
of accessing it).  It would be just too good to be true if the publishers
actually let the stuff out into the public domain in 15 years (or less)!

Carol Bean
Law Librarian
Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, L.L.P.
Baton Rouge, LA
225-387-3221 
carol at tpbp.com

Usual disclaimers; these are obviously not the opinions of my employer!


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