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The article reports that International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has launched its IBM Digital Library and associated technology to prevent unauthorized and unpaid use of their electronic text, image and sound products. The launch took place at the New York Public Library in March. Several features are particularly worth noting. First, the technology enables electronic watermarking of pages of text and images, and encoding of music, so it can be tracked. Second, there are management solutions for the full spectrum of information content to make them available on worldwide networks. Third, an infrastructure has been built in that includes automated indexing, cataloging, abstracting, and search by relevance ranking. And fourth, the solution, as IBM reports, embraces both IBM and non-IBM products into a single scalable architecture. IBM's Digital Library includes five functions: Content Creation and Capture; Storage and Management; Rights Management; Search and Access; Distribution. Library servers manage the index and search support data; object servers manage the digitized objects or the collection.

The article discusses electronic books with reference to an event titled "Electronic Books 1993," held on September 28-29 in New York City. Two cultures came together at the event. The two cultures: the hardware-software segments of the information industry, and the publishers--some of whom are apprehensive and timid in facing the idea of electronic publishing--and others who are intrepid, lured on by the challenge of new products, new markets, and new profits. Electronic publishing is a hot topic these days. The content of the book attracts the hardware-software people. Electronic publishing concerns the traditional publishers, many of whom feel they are being forced into the new channels of production and distribution. The subject is of interest to lawyers who are pondering and advising on the rights and obligations of suppliers and users of electronic publications in areas of copying, licensing, networking, converting from one medium to another, and developing model agreements in the U.S. and internationally.