IPR AND LIS professional in digital context

Every human being is endowed with certain, but varying degrees of intellect. Each individual is uniquely gifted. The word intellect originates from the root ‘intellectual’ in Latin, which means the power of knowing as distinguished from the power to feel. Man has the capacity to acquire knowledge and increase his knowledge by gathering more and utilizing it as and when required throughout his lifetime. An intellectual makes his living by selling the product intellect, which is nothing but the brain child of his original idea, creative thought, which forms a special kind of property known as Intellectual Property. The intellectual property is ownership of something intangible. Thus, we can say that object in intellectual property right is immaterial property. This new form of intellectual property has come to play a vital role in the lives of human beings. IPR, as its popularly known connotes the right to literary, artistic and scientific work; performances of performing artists; phonographs and broadcast; inventions in all fields of human endeavor; scientific discoveries; industrial designs etc. The paper has highlighted some ideas and problems relating to IPR. The concept of ‘fair use’ and ‘not fair’ are mentioned here. The role of LIS professional in balancing the copyright act is mentioned. It also reflects the development of copyright laws in India.