ABSTRACT
The fine line between words and things, ideas and artifacts, is becoming ever finer. In such an environment the relationships between knowledge and property inevitably link up with classic concerns of knowledge and power. The major reproduction/ equipment firms to escape possible litigation by staying an arm's length from the contentious issue of property and knowledge. The disjunction between knowledge and property is exemplified by both public librarians and information agencies who are plagued by present dilemmas as to the limits of property rights and public rights. The weakening of copyright that has resulted from uncontrolled copying occurs to the greater loss of the community of knowledge as a whole. Librarians have argued, for the most part, that copyright legislation has restricted access to information. Current legislation makes participation in a center entirely optional with no penalty for nonmembership and no particular rewards for participation.
