ABSTRACT
Throughout history, libraries have always acted and functioned as information repositories and disseminators. Libraries, especially academic libraries, play a central role in promoting the progress of science and arts. This role, however, is under serious attack by the commercialization of digital content brought by the Internet revolution. One hallmark of this commercialization of digital content is the popularity of licensing agreements in the current marketplace, including both mass-market licensing agreements and negotiated licensing agreements. agreements are essentially a type of private legislation launched by digital content developers who believe that the U.S. copyright law has not provided adequate protection for their intellectual property rights. Under the context of a typical licensing agreement, libraries pay for the use of the digital content under the various restrictions imposed by a digital content provider. Libraries no longer own the physical copy of the digital content, nor do they have the physical custody of digital contents and the software system, notwithstanding the fact that they pay hefty fees for subscribing to them.
