Digital Rights Management: A Librarian's Guide to Technology and Practice

Citation

Secker, J. (2009), "Digital Rights Management: A Librarian's Guide to Technology and Practice", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 43 No. 2, pp. 230-231. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330330910954433

This book is intended to be a practical guide to this complex, but increasingly important topic. Written by a US librarian who is a leading expert in the field, it provides a useful addition to the Chandos series. As with many of its publications the book seeks to be relevant to librarians internationally, however there is a noticeable US bias to the book. The author is also clear that, in dealing with topics such as copyright law, she has only provided examples from English‐speaking countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and UK. Consequently, European readers may find these parts of the book of less value. However, in terms of providing a comprehensive overview of this complex topic it is difficult to find fault in the author's obvious knowledge in topics as diverse as authentication and metadata, and digital rights management (DRM) mechanisms used by commercial companies. My only criticism would be the (possibly unavoidable) use of jargon and acronyms throughout the book and the technical nature of the subject matter which may make it less appealing to some readers. It clearly is a specialist publication aimed at systems librarians or electronic resources managers, and even this audience may find some of the book challenging. Nevertheless, I expect to find this book useful in the future as a reference when I come across unfamiliar terms or to refresh my memory on some of the more challenging acronyms in the DRM field.

The book defines DRM in the introduction as “the digital management of rights pertaining to the access and use of digital materials” (p. 1). It focuses on the interaction between resources, users and rights owners. The DRM model on which the book is based is set out in Figure 1.1 (p. 2) and Chapters 2‐5 look at rights, resources, rights owners and users in turn.

Chapter 2 discusses copyright in some detail, outlining international law first and then turning to examine copyright laws of the major English speaking countries as mentioned above. Here the author's US knowledge is obviously greatest and this section (pp. 43‐52) is more detailed than the other countries. The section on UK copyright law (pp. 29‐35) is reasonably comprehensive, however UK readers would be advised to consult Pedley (2007) for more detail, in particular on topics such as the Gowers' Review and the new CLA licences for digital copying. Chapter 3 goes on to consider other rights aside from copyright, including privacy, patents and trademarks. Much of the chapter considers privacy issues and how they affect libraries, again concentrating on legislation from the major English‐speaking countries.

Chapter 4 entitled “The resource in digital rights management” looks at identification and authenticity of resources. This chapter fairly quickly becomes technical in its consideration of several information models. These include the IFLA Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records model, MPEG‐21 Digital Item Declaration Model and the Open Archives Initiative object reuse and exchange model. It goes on to look at identifier standards, which in an analogue world include ISBNs and ISSNs, but in a digital world include standards such as Universal Resource Identifier, Digital Object Identifer and Persistent Uniform Resource Locator, among others.

Chapter 5 looks at what it calls the “agent” in DRM which includes the rights holder (who controls the rights associated with a digital object) and the end‐user (who wants to re‐use the information). Libraries clearly play a crucial role in this process as they frequently mediate the interaction between these two agents. This chapter looks in detail at the associated issues of mediating access to resources, such as authentication and authorisation, including mechanisms such as IP control, the use of proxy servers and authentication technologies such as Lighweight Directory Access Protocol and Shibboleth to name just a few.

Some new topics are covered in this book in considerable depth, for example, Chapter 6 provides a detailed overview of rights metadata but also of licences. Meanwhile Chapter 7 looks at DRM technologies in use today, for example watermarking (p. 304), digital signatures (p. 308) and digital certificates (p. 303). The breadth of Agnew's knowledge is again clear with this chapter also considering plagiarism detection, which she describes as a “niche DRM implementation” (p. 342).

Finally Chapter 8, entitled “Putting the pieces together”, is in essence a conclusion, looking at the wider issues of DRM and the important role of librarians as mediators between rights owners and users of digital content. Agnew also recognises the important role of librarians in educating users of information about copyright issues; for example, advising authors not to readily assign their copyright to publishers. She also argues that librarians should take an advocacy role in terms of defending users' rights, such as fair dealing, where companies are using technologies to erode these.

This book acknowledges the complexity of DRM issues but provides a good understanding of the basic principles and practices of DRM, alongside a detailed technical overview of the topic. It is useful for information professionals tasked with developing a digital rights policy and framework for an organisation, or for any librarians wanting more in‐depth knowledge of this topic. I find it difficult not to draw comparisons with Pedley's (2007) work on a similar topic, which I must confess to finding an easier read and suitable for a less technical audience. It is clear that this book is aimed at a more specialist audience and, for those requiring a detailed understanding of this topic, it provides a rich source.