The advancements made to digital technology have enabled academic libraries today to digitize their collections as a continuing process of improving their services to the academic community. Various factors determine whether a library should embark on a digitization project and the extent of the digitization. These include the policy of the institution, its financial resources, its manpower, its technical capability and the legality of digitization under the copyright law of each country. The objective of this study is to examine how Malaysian copyright law impacts on the digitization of collections in academic libraries in this country. The focus is on materials which are in the form of literary works as these represent the bulk of most academic libraries’ collections. The study discusses the principles of copyright law that have a direct bearing on digitization, the potential liability of libraries for copyright infringement, the circumstances under which digitization is exempted from copyright infringement and the options available to academic libraries to embark on digitization projects without infringing copyright law. The methodology used is the doctrinal research methodology in the discipline of law. The findings of this study serve to expand the current body of knowledge on how digitization of library collections in academic libraries may be carried out within the confines of copyright law. The recommendations are two-fold. First, academic libraries may digitize materials if the purpose is to cater to the needs of those who are visually or hearing impaired. Secondly, in other cases, digitization may only be carried out after obtaining a licence or an assignment of copyright from the copyright owner. It is hoped that the study would provide librarians with a better understanding of the copyright issues that arise from digitization and the principles of copyright law that govern digitization so that libraries can act within the confines of copyright law.

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版权法对马来西亚高校图书馆馆藏数字化的影响

数字技术的进步使当今的学术图书馆能够将其馆藏数字化，以此作为改进对学术界服务的持续过程。各种因素决定了图书馆是否应该开始数字化项目以及数字化的程度。其中包括机构的政策、财政资源、人力、技术能力以及各国版权法规定的数字化合法性。本研究的目的是研究马来西亚版权法如何影响该国学术图书馆馆藏的数字化。重点是文学作品形式的材料，因为它们代表了大多数学术图书馆的大部分馆藏。该研究讨论了与数字化直接相关的版权法原则、图书馆对版权侵权的潜在责任、数字化免于侵犯版权的情况以及学术图书馆在不侵犯版权的情况下开展数字化项目的可用选项。法律。所使用的方法论是法学学科的教义研究方法论。本研究的结果有助于扩展当前关于如何在版权法范围内进行学术图书馆馆藏数字化的知识体系。建议有两个方面。首先，如果目的是满足视力或听力障碍者的需求，学术图书馆可能会将资料数字化。其次，在其他情况下，只有在获得版权所有者的许可或版权转让后才能进行数字化。希望这项研究能够让图书馆员更好地了解数字化引起的版权问题以及管理数字化的版权法原则，以便图书馆能够在版权法的范围内行事。