Originally shared by Miguel Afonso Caetano"It’s one thing to require that rare or fragile documents be handled carefully and under supervision, and to educate patrons about copyright law; it’s quite another thing to require that patrons ask our permission before reusing the intellectual content of documents in the public domain, and even (as many libraries do) to inform us ahead of time how they plan to use it. When we require them to ask our permission before republishing, quoting, or otherwise reusing public domain content, we are asserting a right we don’t have—the right to control our patrons’ use of public intellectual property. We would never consider trying to impose that kind of control over our patrons’ use of public domain content from our general collections, so what is it about rare and unique materials that makes us think it’s okay to do so in that context?"
Asserting Rights We Don’t Have: Libraries and “Permission to Publish” | Peer to Peer Review