EU report addresses copyright issues linked to digital preservation
A report by the EU's High Level Expert Group on Digital Libraries has called on Member States to set up voluntary mechanisms to facilitate digitising and providing access to orphan and out-of-print works.
In 2005, the European Commission kick started the European Digital Library, an initiative aimed at encouraging Member States to digitise, preserve, and make their cultural heritage available to all.
By 2008, it is estimated that two million books, films, photographs, manuscripts, and other cultural works will be accessible through the European Digital Library. This figure is expected to increase to at least six million by 2010, by which point potentially every library, archive and museum in Europe will be able to link its digital content to the European Digital Library.
However, making the resources in Europe's libraries and archives available on the internet is not straightforward. The report published by the expert group on 18 April recommends that Member States take action in two areas in particular.
The first is with regard to orphan works, which refer to works where the copyright holders cannot be identified or located. Both text-based and audiovisual materials include substantial amounts of works with unclear copyright status. This has often caused problems for libraries, museums and archives when carrying out their preservation and dissemination mandate.
In the case of orphan works, the authors of the report suggest that Member States should establish mechanisms that allow for such works to be used for non-commercial purposes. These mechanisms should cover all types of orphan works and require users to conduct a bona fide search for the copyright holders prior to using the material.
Member States should also be encouraged to recognise mechanisms in place in other parts of the EU in order to ensure cross-border continuity. Material which can be legally used in one Member State should also be legal elsewhere.
Out-of-print material is the second area to be addressed by the report. It proposes a model licence mainly targeting libraries, which is designed in such a way that it can be adapted to the different legal regimes and models across the EU. Under the licence, a library is granted the non-exclusive and non-transferable right to digitise and make material available to users in closed networks. The author or publisher however retains copyright of the work, and may at any time revoke the licence. In the case where the more than 10% of licensed material is withdrawn, the library is entitled to a refund of its costs.
The authors of the report call on the Commission to spread the word about the model licence and encourage Member States to adopt it.
Commenting on the report, Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said that it was important to solve the copyright issues highlighted in order to make the vision of a European Digital Library a reality.
'I will therefore look with great interest into the recommendations made by the High Level Group to see in which way the European Commission, the Member States and the relevant stakeholders could best follow them up. After the discussions so far, for me an approach based on wide-spread agreements between libraries and rightholders looks promising if they manage to make the user interests a priority,' she promised.
Report on Digital Preservation, Orphan Works and Out-of-Print Works
