^ Libraries are an entirely different aspect of the law. They're legally allowed to have and distribute these copies to individuals in the manner that they do, and it's part of the contract with authors that library usage is explicitly allowed IIRC. This goes back to the whole concept that copyrights and patents aren't so much a 'moral' construct as an economic one, which were originally designed to help boost economic growth, creativity and competition. However, in these times the opposite is happening because of the way these laws are being implemented. There's an interesting article in the Guardian online about this (largely to do with software patents, but still significant), which was in part spurred on by the recent debacle with Sony and their rootkit infested CD's.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1646125,00.html
However, the whole notion of copyright as it was is seriously getting put through the wringer in the digital age. You might have heard recently about Google's attempts to create a vast digital library. This was largely opposed by several authors associations in the US (although a fair few individual authros were for the concept, since it meant a wider distribution and recognition of their work. This would then in theory result in a greater possibility of their becoming popular, quite away from having to depend on traditional distributors, channels, and advertising).
The whole process of distribution is changing. Organisations like the RIAA are scared of this largely because it means that if music can be easily distributed online to anyone who wants it, then it essentially cuts out the middle-man distributors and record companies. This has all sorts of effects, even with online distribution models such as iTunes, where the prices are to a large extent dictated by organisations such as the RIAA since they currently own the licences to the tracks that are being distributed.
So with distribution models changing, at first you found these distributors (who's business model was under threat) actively at war with the technology itself, launching all sorts of lawsuits to get concepts like P2P software outlawed altogether. This of course, was nonsense. Now, they're instead trying to re-mould the technology to suit and support the traditional manner in which distribution has happened in the past, with varied results, largely because the previous attempts at control haven't worked. It's led to some ludicrous stuff, like how while you can purchase an iPod, and CD's, it's technically
illegal to rip that CD to MP3 format and put it on your iPod? Why? Because it's considered format shifting, and your licence (you don't own that CD, you only licence its contents) doesn't provide for this. Technically, you are allowed to make duiplicate backups of the CD for your own personal usage, but again, these rights are getting limited by countermeasures such as XCP.
So in short, it's a mess right now. It's such an unbelieveably huge topic that I can't be bothered to tackle it. Besides, going on as I have is largely unrelated to anime and more to do with copyright and patent law. :mrgreen:
