|   homepage   |   about E-LIS   |   browse   |   search   |   help   |   classification schema   |   submission guidelines   ||
| Login/Your pages | Create Account|

The nonsense of copyright in libraries : digital information and the right to copy

Staincliffe, Paul (2006) The nonsense of copyright in libraries : digital information and the right to copy. [Conference Paper]

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
137Kb Language: English

Alternative Locations: http://www.lianza.org.nz/library/files/store_013/NonsenseofCopyrightinLibraries_PStaincliffe.pdf

Abstract(s)

The notion of copyright is deeply entrenched in the psyche of librarians, who remain one of the few groups who consistently support or uphold it. Given the growth of digital information and consequential change in the behaviour of information creators and users the paper posits that copyright administration in libraries has become a cumbersome burden whose “time has come”. Changes in information provision by libraries towards delivering more digital information have ironically highlighted the paradox libraries face between providing the best possible service and upholding copyright. The notion that there exists in the digital environment a “right to copy” is put forward. Copyright is legally complicated, controversial, subject to a number of misunderstandings and generally not fully understood even by the librarians whose daily tasks include administering it. To better understand the current status of copyright and its impact on libraries the notion of copyright is briefly outlined, along with what exactly copyright is, its historical roots and its suitability in the current environment. In examining the legislation the paper critiques its aims and how it fails in these; compares arguments in favour and against its retention, investigates how it serves to restrict creativity rather than encourage it and in closing suggests why libraries should abandon the struggle to uphold copyright. Examples from New Zealand, Australia, the US and the UK are used to highlight inconsistencies that support the argument that copyright in the digital environment is a nonsense that no longer works.


Item Type:Conference Paper
Keywords:Copyright; copy; digital; freedom; failure;
Subjects:E. Publishing and legal issues. > ED. Intellectual property: author's rights, ownership, copyright, copyleft.
B. Information use and sociology of information. > BC. Information in society.
Full Metadata:Show all fields
ID Code:7466
Deposited By:Staincliffe, Paul
Deposited On:18 Oct 2006
Last Modified:19 Nov 2008 12:53
Statistics:View statistics for this eprint

BBC 2006a, Yahoo offers copy-free music, viewed 7 August 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/5203146.stm.

BBC 2006b, Royalty rights for musicians, viewed 7 August 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/4918214.stm.

Book Publishers Association of New Zealand 2005, Survey of book publishing in New Zealand Version 1-2005, viewed 15 August 2006, http://www.bpanz.org.nz/documents/Report.doc.

Butler, S. 1970, Erewhon, Penguin, London.

Copyright Clearance Center 2005, 2005 annual report, viewed 14 August 2006, http://www.copyright.com/media/pdfs/AR_CCC_05_Single.pdf.

Copyright Licensing 2005, ‘CLL takes court action against copyright infringement’, Copyworks, issue 27, p. 2.

Crews, K. 2006, Copyright law for librarians and educators, ALA Editions, Chicago.

Davies, G. 2002, Copyright and the public interest, Sweet & Maxwell, London.

Deazley, R. 2004, On the origin of the right to copy, Hart, Oxford.

During, Z. 2006, It's been mostly fun, Z. During, Auckland, N.Z.

Eaton, T. 2006, ‘New Zealand Federation Against Copyright Theft’, Amcham News, viewed 14 July 2006, http://www.amcham.co.nz/Newsletters/Amcham%20newsletter2006%204.pdf.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2006, Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, viewed 7 August 2006, http://www.britannica.com.

Frith, S. & Marshall, L. (eds) 2004, Music and copyright, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

Gorman, G. (ed) 2002, The digital factor in library and information services, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Md.

Great Britain. Secretary of State for Culture 2004, Report on the Public Lending Right Scheme, 2003-2004, viewed 7 March 2006, http://www.plr.uk.com/publications/03annualreport.pdf.

Greig, M. 2005, ‘Implementing electronic theses at the University of Glasgow: cultural challenges’, Library Collections, Acquisitions and Technical Services, vol. 29, issue 3, (online Science Direct database).

Kingsbury, A. 2002, Intellectual property, LexisNexis, Wellington, N.Z.

LIANZA 2005, LIANZA Copyright Act guidelines, Copyright Task Force of the Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, Wellington, N.Z.

Liebowitz, S. 2003, ‘Back to the future: can copyright owners appropriate revenues in the face of new copying technologies?’ in W. Gordon & R. Watt (eds), The economics of copyright: developments in research and analysis, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp. 1-25.

Matthews, P. 2006, ‘Really great expectations’, New Zealand Listener, vol. 204, no. 3456, August 5-11, p. 13-17.

Millett, T. 2005, ‘Librarians and copyright’, New Zealand Intellectual Property Journal, vol. 4, pt. 4, pp. 77-80.

Morgan, O. 2002, International protection of performers' rights, Hart, Oxford.

New Zealand Government 1994, Copyright Act, Author, Wellington, N.Z.

Rose, M. 1993, Authors and owners: the invention of copyright, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Schniderman, S. 2006, ‘LC union warns about Google, restates core mission’, Library Journal, viewed, 31 July 2006, http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6357471.html.

Sheat, K. 2005, ‘Last year's results’, Copyworks, issue 27, p. 1.

Takeyama, L. (ed) 2005, Developments in the economics of copyright, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.

Tennant, R. 2004, Managing the digital environment, Reed, New York, N.Y.

Thompson, J. B. 2005, Books in the digital age, Polity, Cambridge.

Towse, R. 2005, ‘Economics and copyright reform: aspects of the EC Directive’, Telematics and Informatics, vol. 22, issues 1-2, pp. 11-24 (online Science Direct database).

Tyler, T. 2006, Why people obey the law, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.

Vaidhyanathan, S. 2001, Copyrights and copywrongs, New York University Press, New York, N.Y.

Vaidhyanathan, S. 2004, The anarchist in the library, Basic Books, New York, N.Y.

Willinsky, J. 2006, The access principle, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Archive Staff Only: edit this record

|     E-LIS is hosted by AEPIC at CILEA     |     Powered by GNU Eprints software|