This paper outlines some of the most relevant copyright obstacles libraries in the cultural heritage institutions sector currently face, when trying to fulfill their mission in the digital context. For each of the four main activities – collecting, cataloguing, making available and preservation – the essential copyright issues will be outlined against the background of the legal situation in Switzerland. Where possible, short references to a broader copyright context and the laws of other countries will be given.
Particular emphasis will be placed on cataloguing and making available documents as the current ongoing Swiss copyright revision contains some innovative approaches: a catalogue privilege as well as new regulations for the handling of orphan works and mass digitization. Concerning collecting and preserving, at least some relevant questions in relation to copyright will be posed in order to maybe launch further discussions.

Cooperatively operated digital preservation systems offer institutions of varying size the chance to actively participate in digital preservation. In current times of budget cuts they are also a valuable asset to larger memory institutions. While the benefits of cooperatively operated systems have been discussed before, the risks associated with a consortial solution have not been analyzed in detail.
TIB hosts the Goportis Digital Archive which is used by two large national subject libraries as well as by TIB itself. As the host of this comparatively small preservation network, TIB has started to analyze the particular risk which losing a consortium member poses to the overall system operation. This paper presents the current status of this work-in-progress and highlights two areas: risk factors associated with cost and risk factors associated with the content. While the paper is strictly written from the viewpoint of the consortial leader/ host of this specific network, the underlying processes shall be beneficial to other cooperatively operated digital preservation systems.