Why Librarians Care about Intellectual Property Law and Policy

Copyright as a balancing of interests Carol C. Henderson, former Executive Director Washington Office, American Library Association The roles libraries play are shaped by copyright law. Copyright in its origins and in the way it has evolved in the United States has always involved a balancing of interests. Authors and creators are granted certain monopoly rights in order that an adequate return stimulate the creation of intellectual works, but those rights are limited in various ways in order, in the Constitution's phrase, to promote science and the useful arts.