Oregon Legal Research Blog
Interesting post at Library Law, re: Schwartz v. Berkeley Historical Society
Excerpt: “I believe that plaintiff and his counsel were aware that our insurance-funded counsel would defend us so long as the law suit was for damages. By suing us in federal court seeking declaratory relief and costs of the suit and counsel, plaintiff knew that BHS would be stranded without insurance-paid counsel.”
Public Record or Public Domain doesn’t always mean Free, for anyone, which confuses many. Librarians, and public servants, share willingly and freely when possible, but someone had or has to pay for the service. Publishers don’t give away books or databases without charging, computers don’t appear out of thin air, nor are they maintained without cost, scanners, indexers, and web designers have a right to be paid for their expertise and labor. Not every service is funded with taxpayer money. We could go on ….