Monday, May 9, 2011

E-Book Readers, Tablet PCs, and the Law: Attorneys, Courts, Legal Research, Law Libraries

Print, print, print? Not so much in the not so distant future of law.

John Edwards has a piece investigating tablet PCs and e-book readers for attorneys at LawTechnology News (LTN) in Tablet or E-Book Reader? It Depends.

LexisNexis introduced e-books last year and has a website presence at LexisNexis eBooks.

WestLaw introduced 30 of their titles as e-books in 2009 and David Holt at Law Library Technology informs us on Using WestLaw Next with your e-book reader.

Blackwell's Law Ebooks in the UK, for example, already has e-books devoted to the law as a fixed category.

It will not be surprising down the road, we think, to find Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court or judges of lower courts at oral argument or in other circumstances where quick reference to legal codes, case law, academic commentary or other document information is required, to consult their law, fact and case-filled Tablet PC or E-Book Reader (or a similar electronic research and book and document reading technology).

E-book readers are becoming more widespread and the EBook Readers Review in the UK has a nice comparison table of popular models: Amazon, Sony, BeBook, Barnes and Noble, Bookeen, and more. See the Wikipedia Comparison of e-book readers for a comprehensive table.

Of course, all such e-book readers are subject to the copyright laws.

Ken LaMance, Attorney at Law, LegalMatch Law Library Managing Editor, examines E-Book Readers and Copyright Laws.

Jay Rivera, also at LegalMatch, goes into Digital Storytelling: Copyright Law and E-book Audio Readers.

Peter Hirtle at the LibraryLaw Blog discusses the legality of library lending of e-book readers.