A Primer on Digital Rights Management Technologies

There are a variety of digital rights management (DRM) technologies employed by content owners and publishers to protect creators, owners, and the integrity of the content itself. DRM technologies prevent unauthorized use by controlling access to and use of information. As such, DRM can hinder or threaten the effectiveness of information intermediaries such as libraries when they provide digital content controlled by DRM technologies that they themselves do not manage. Therefore, librarians need to be aware of commercial DRM applications and understand the various DRM technologies in this increasingly protected digital information age. The chapter is structured in three parts. First, it explores the four DRM schemes of prevention, restriction, deterrence, and detection. The various DRM tools and DRM systems and how they work are then explained. The discussion, while technical, avoids jargon and is easily accessible. The chapter concludes with advice for libraries on how to protect their digital resource investment when they do not control the related DRM.