Romance of Public Domain in Legal Research: An Awareness Study about Free Access to Legal Resources among Users of Select Law Libraries in Delhi Akash Assistant Librarian National Law University Delhi

Public Domain

Origin Concept Initiatives o Came into existence from ancient England and American culture o Public Domain was that part of land which was not under any proprietorship of any person o Free land and could be used by any person for social purposes o Maintained under municipalities as facilitated for public use

Public Domain Origin Concept Initiatives o Conceptualized as works not protected by copyright o For which copyright has expired o May be printed for distribution and sale, quoted, excerpted, reproduced, and made available online to the public without infringement o A government document over which an agency decides not to exercise copyright in order to make its content widely known.

Public Domain Origin Concept Initiatives o Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) (2001) o Montreal Declaration, Free Access to Law Movement (2002) o Bethesda Statement’(2003) o Berlin Declaration. (2003) o UNESCO Policy Guidelines for the Development and Promotion of Governmental Public Domain Information (2004). o Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development's (OECD) Declaration (2004). o Brazil Salvador Declaration(2005)

Public Domain & Copyright United State copyright act explains, Public domain as any work for which the copyright bas expired and not been renewed, any work that was published prior to 1923, work produced by the US government and other specific governments, work that is donated to public domain, or any other work arrive in the public domain:  Expiration of copyright: Where the copyright has expired  Failure to renew copyright: Where the owner failed to follow copyright renewal rules.  Dedication: Where the owner deliberately places it in the public domain.  No Copyright protection available: Where copyright law does not protect this type of work.

UNESCO Initiative towards Governmental Public Domain Information “Public domain information refers to publicly accessible information, the use of which does not infringe any legal right, or any obligation of confidentiality. It thus refers on the one hand to the realm of all works or objects of related rights, which can be exploited by everybody without any authorization, for instance because protection is not granted under national or international law, or because of the expiration of the term of protection. It refers on the other hand to public data and official information produced and voluntarily made available by governments or international organizations. UHLIR, Paul f. (2004). Policy Guidelines for the Development and Promotion of Governmental Public Domain Information.- Paris: UNESCO-viii, 39.

Why the Study To find the awareness about the availability of Public Domain Legal Resources among law library users. To analyze the usage of legal resources in public domain by the user of law libraries. To Know the facilitation programmes /user orientation programmes designed by law libraries for awareness of Public Domain Resources. To suggest strategies for promotion and optimum access of information in public domain by libraries as an alternative to commercial databases.

Research Methodology Professors Research Scholars Lawyers Students Research Group Survey Method Mixed Questionnaire Research Techniques Research Libraries (02) Academic Libraries (05) Bar Libraries (02) Target Institutions Questionnaire CirculatedResponse ReceivedPer Cent %

Web links of Public Domain Apex Courts JudgmentsInternational Court Judgments Australia High Court Judgments Canada Supreme Court Judgments South Africa Constitutional of Court Supreme Court of Indian and Indian High Court Judgment ww.judis.nic.in/ Supreme Court of India and Indian High Court Judgment Supreme Court of United Kingdom US Supreme Court Judgments International Court of Justice European Court of Human Rights European Court of Justice Legislations/Acts/StatutesLaw Reform Reports Commonwealth of Australia Consolidated Act act/ Consolidated Statute of Canada India Code Text Base UK Statute United States Code International Law Commission Law Commission of India Law Commission of United Kingdom Law Commission of New Zealand Australian Law Reforms Commission

Web links of Public Domain Open Access Indian JournalsOpen Access International Journals ILI Law Review Indian Journal of Constitutional Law Indian Journal of Intellectual Property Rights Indian Journal of Law & Technology Journal of Intellectual Property Rights Mainstream Weekly NALSAR Law Review NALSAR Students Law Review California Law Review Cornell International Law Journal Duke Law Journal Harvard Human Rights Journal Harvard International Review Harvard Law Review Law and Contemporary Problems Yale Law Journal Human Rights Commissions WebsitesOpen Access Databases Asian Human Rights Commission Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHCR) Human Rights And Equal Opportunity Commission (Australia) National Human Rights Commission (India) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Social Science Research Network Global Legal Information Network Find Law

Free Access to Legal Resources among Users of Select Law Libraries in Delhi: A Study

Research Findings o USE OF PUBLIC DOMAIN resources by law professionals by various means including open access through search engines, governmental websites, institutional websites and NGOs web portals. o Most of the total population (87.7 per cent) SEARCH PUBLIC DOMAIN INFORMATION BY THE HELP OF OPEN ACCESS SEARCH ENGINES. o 73.1 per cent of the total POPULATION KNOWS ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF LEGAL INFORMATION ON GOVERNMENT WEBSITES which is a good response to encourage governmental bodies to provide more information on its web portals. o Users are NOT MUCH AWARE about the availability of CASE LAW of apex courts of select countries. However, Majority of user population knows about the availability of case laws of Indian Supreme Court and High Courts through JUDIS Judgment Information system (80 per cent).

Research Findings o USERS KNOW LESS ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF LEGISLATION of select countries in public domain through free access web portal. But it is also revealed that law professionals aware of text of Indian legislation with India Code (59.6 per cent). o Majority of law professionals DO NOT USE FREE LEGAL JOURNALS and scholarship published outside and within India. However, Harvard Law Review is used through open access portal of Harvard University by majority of law professionals (53.1 per cent). Out of Indian open access law journals, ILI Law Review is much popular among law professionals (71.5 per cent). o Less than 50 PER CENT OF THE LAW PROFESSIONAL USE FREE ACCESSIBLE DATABASES supporting legal journals and scholarship viz. Social Science Research Network, Global Legal Information Network and Find Law.

Users’ View in Support of Public Domain Legal Resources o PDRs support EASY ACCESS to the SEARCH IN COMBINATION of case law or legal articles and it CAN BE USED FROM ANYWHERE around the world. o PDRs contain much valuable information and links to various websites including articles and cases. o The AMOUNT OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM THEM IS MORE than what is available in paid databases. Public Domain Resources contain valuable information and material is easily available. o PDRs have an edge of EASY TO ACCESS. Though commercial databases offer more ease of access, the vast amount of Public Domain Resources are with hands down. o PDRs are carrying INSUFFICIENT DATA compared to the commercial ones. They are sometimes unreliable also. o PDRs are DEFICIENT due to no TIMELY UPDATION, no effective search options and sometimes difficult in downloading. o It is very TEDIOUS PROCESS TO SEARCH in PDRs and many databases available in Public Domain Resources are not freely or easily available. o PDRs are DEFICIENT IN THE EXTENT OF COVERAGE but government websites provide authentic information for research. o PDRs do NOT PROVIDE REFINED and QUALITATIVE RESEARCH material Users’ View not Supporting Public Domain Legal Resources

Conclusion Librarians have a greater responsibility to disseminate the presence of free access resources. A well planned and information rich library orientation programme containing information over best possible relevant free resources, is the best way to inculcate information digging habits of the users from the universe of digital knowledge. Librarians should adhere to communicate about free open access resources generated out of public fund by public and voluntary agencies.