Examining librarians’ rights in the Philippine copyright law: The academic law librarians' standpoint

• Main Authors: Frias, Willian S.A., Cortez, Bryan Boy C.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: Copyright—Philippines; Law librarians—Legal status, laws, etc.—Philippines; Intellectual Property Law
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/11775
• Institution: De La Salle University

Academic law librarians have two primary responsibilities in the profession: to be faithful to the fundamental law of library science, and to be the frontrunners in implementing the law of the land. The Philippine copyright law tests the academic law librarians' purpose in accomplishing both responsibilities. In this pandemic, when most library services are on online modality, the academic law librarians’ duty of providing information the fastest way possible may slow down due to their obligation to abide by the copyright law. To avoid this scenario and provide recommendations when this happens, the researchers of this study examines the overall perception of academic law librarians on the following: (1) the degree of which the copyright law in the country affects the librarians' provision of information service in this time of online modality; (2) the copyright law’s impacts in fulfilling librarians' mission of carrying out the first fundamental law of library science; and (3) the extent of support the copyright law is providing the librarians while performing their tasks. Results are gathered using a 3-part survey questionnaire that tackles the demographics, perceptions, and concerns, and suggestions of the respondents. These are analyzed using percentages, weighted mean, and Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient. Salient results such as the low level of support the academic law librarians perceive they can get from the Philippine copyright law, and their conviction that the prevailing law needs additional provisions to protect librarians in providing information services while adhering to the fundamental law of librarianship, are significantly discussed in this study.