Intellectual Property Rights & Copyright Law By Rachel Kirkland & Shari Clayman

Copyright…. What is it? A set of exclusive rights granted by governments to regulate the use of 1)A particular expression of an idea or information (a.k.a. Intellectual property) 2)A more tangible piece of creative expression (literary works, music, art, etc.) Fair Use and the Internet –DMCA: Digital Millennium Copyright Act

International Copyright No such thing! (Depends on the national laws of the country in question.) Most countries offer protection to foreign works under international copyright treaties and conventions. –Berne Convention –Universal Copyright Convention

Digital Libraries & Copyright Some things to consider: –If preservation actions result in substantial changes to digital material, then moral rights may possibly be infringed –Making new version may be equivalent to "re-publishing" –Multiple rights owners in content and third party software complicates rights clearance

Scope & Context Our part of the portfolio: –Intellectual property rights and copyright law in the context of digitizing small public libraries across distinct cultures –Each piece that is planned to be digitized for the DL must be examined to determine its copyright information and restrictions

Project Goals Give basic information on national and international copyright laws Define guidelines on how to determine copyright restrictions on items to be digitized Create protocols on how the copyright information is to be displayed in the DL

Some Challenges Different copyright laws may effect how material can be viewed and used in each country Cultural sensitivities regarding documents or other materials may effect issues of usage and copyright permissions

Why is it important? Can suffer legal repercussions if we are not authorized to digitize certain items The DL can not be fully utilized by our audience and/or the public if certain items have limited use due to copyright restrictions

Sources & Useful Information Copyright Website What Is Copyright Protection? International Copyright World Intellectual Copyright Organization: Berne Copyright Convention Copyright Law in India ALA’s page on International Copyright Issues opyright/Default2660.htm opyright/Default2660.htm The Right to Preserve: The Rights Issues of Digital Preservation ALA’s page on the DMCA: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ca/Default2515.htm ca/Default2515.htm Wikipedia