ECONOMICS AND POLICY

While a huge amount of material is in the public domain and may be freely assimilated into a digital library, the most valuable items are recent and protected by copyright. In order to induce copyright owners to allow their content to be accessed or downloaded from digital libraries, mechanisms need to be developed to compensate them appropriately. In the most extreme case, an author might himself produce but a single electronic copy of a work. In order to justify his effort, he might have to sell it for $100,000. Such a sale would be impossible if the buyer were not able to charge for use of the material, and in fact charge enough to make a profit.

Fortunately, digital libraries theoretically permit precise measurement of the use made of content. A secure browser, for example, might prevent copying, printing or retransmission of material. Automated permission systems can be developed whereby users can pay directly for certain kinds of licenses. These in turn require metadata concerning the collection of rights the library has obtained for the item.

However, the implementation of charging requires another paradigm shift. The cost of building and maintaining traditional libraries is borne by governments, foundations and corporations, but hardly ever by individuals directly. Usage of materials is free, despite the high cost of maintenance. Note that authors receive substantial money on account of libraries, because currently each library that wants a book must purchase a copy of it, and the authors of popular books receive large royalties. In the digital world, the following are necessary to preserve this revenue stream:

1. centralized organizations finance
2. subscription fees
3. fees for individual use