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Copyright protected materials (Summary)
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SUMMARY

SCOPE 
This guideline is intended for policy makers in public libraries in order to identify the relevant issues and best practices on copyright compliance and for professional library associations in order for them to give guidance to their members and to have evidence when lobbying governments and liaising with rights holders for appropriate changes.

POLICY ISSUES

• Copyright, or authors’ right (droit d’auteur) is an intellectual property right which is given to creators of works of the mind (authors, artists etc) for a fixed period of time during which time they have protection against unauthorised exploitation of their works. National copyright laws are based on the principles contained in international treaties and conventions. The various treaties etc. are referred to. Since 1988, the European Commission, with the single market in mind, has followed a programme of harmonisation of copyright laws across the EU with the result that although copyright laws of Member States are not identical, they are very similar. 

• It is essential, as well as being in the public interest, that librarians are given an exception to copy in order to preserve the original and to be able to make the preserved copy available for consultation and other uses in the same way as the original format. 

• Non-commercial public lending is not an activity that has traditionally been controlled by copyright law. 

• Rights holders are concerned that, in the digital environment, their works are not fully protected by law. They are endeavouring to tighten up the protection of their works using technological solutions. 

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES 
The success of a library network depends on the content being accessible to the public. There will be many non-digital works in the library collection which are considered ideal for inclusion on the network. 

The copyright in protected works needs to be cleared prior to digitisation and networking. Librarians will, therefore, have to be prepared to negotiate with whoever holds the rights for authorisation. This could be the publisher, a collecting society, a licensing agency, or maybe even the author or the author’s estate if the author is dead. 

Before considering a public access network, public libraries should make themselves aware of current and any forthcoming copyright legislation and seek legal advice and devise a copyright policy outlining aims and objectives of the service. They should be aware that one of the main problems will be to overcome the resistance of rights holders, particularly publishers, to allow print works to be digitised.

FUTURE AGENDA
Library organisations should maintain a watching brief on international and national copyright legislation in order to lobby for adequate access to information for all citizens and to give guidance on best practice. 

European librarians also need to be aware of other issues and topics which are loosely linked to copyright and IPR and be prepared to respond to any consultation or Directives launched by the EU. 

Home | The Public Interest in Access to 
Copyright protected materials (Summary)
Full Text: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4