British Library on DRM threat
2pnet.net News:- In June British Library ceo Lynne Brindley warned DRM (Digital Restriction Management) was getting in the way of fair dealing rights.
Now, “‘The current stand-off on IP threatens innovation, research and our digital heritage,’ she told the Labour Party Conference, using the meeting to launch an Intellectual Property (IP) Manifesto, says PC Pro.
“Our IP Manifesto sets out the unique role that the UK national library must play as both a leading voice and an honest broker in the debate that the digital revolution has generated,’ she stated, says the story.
“As a publisher in its own right, the Library understands the opportunities and threats presented by digital to the publishing industries. As one of the world’s great research libraries we are equally mindful of the threat that an overly restrictive, or insufficiently clear, IP framework would pose to future creativity and innovation.”
DRM is a technical device, “but it’s being used in an all-embracing sense,” CNET News has Brindley declaring. “It can’t be circumvented for disabled access or preservation, and the technology doesn’t expire (as traditional copyright does). In effect, it’s overriding exceptions to copyright law.”
“This is a global, international issue,” she went on. “We have to have the same balance as in traditional print. We are seeking a triage ensuring creators are rewarded but also that the public good is served.”
ZDNet UK quotes Open Rights Group executive director Suw Charman saying DRM restrictions could be particularly damaging for academic research.
“One of the key problems is that the limitations and exceptions to copyright law are being ignored by business, which is imposing restrictive licences on digital content,” she said.
“If a library carried a printed journal, academics and students could photocopy it. Digital journals have restrictions on access, which is a dangerous road to go down. If we allow companies to create their own licences, we undermine copyright law. If we say contract law is more important than copyright law, it allows publishers to write whatever licence they like, which is what is happening now.”
Also See:
fair dealing rights – British Library on DRM, June 8, 2006
PC Pro – British Library shouts out against unfair DRM, September 26, 2004
CNET News – British Library calls for digital copyright action, September 25, 2006
ZDNet UK – British Library calls for digital copyright action, September 25, 2006
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September 27th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
“We are seeking a triage ensuring creators are rewarded but also that the public good is served.”
“the public good”
There’s a phrase you don’t hear very often these days…