Title: Electronic Libraries: The Pros and Cons of Multimedia Access Copyright Issues, Moderated by Jane Ryland
Abstract: Jane Ryland opened the session by explaining that copyright issues apply to multimedia information as well as information of all kinds. Ryland began the discussions by covering the background of the copyright law, and the topic quickly proceeded to copyright ownership issues. The audience also examined the advantages and disadvantages of current copyright laws and addressed the problems associated with copyright on electronic information. The entire concept of copyright stems from the creation of the printing press, which actually made making copies much easier and made commercial copies widely available. The United States copyright law stems from the British copyright law enacted during the period of Queen Anne. The law was first seen in the U.S. Constitution and secured to authors the exclusive rights to their writing. The current copyright law protects literary, musical, and dramatic works as well as pantomime, choreography, pictures, graphs, sculptures, motion pictures, audiovisual material, and sound. In 1976 the law was amended to include computer programs, electronic music, and computer databases. Copyright law includes the physical copying of material, but does not cover the of ideas. The intent of the Constitution was to encourage the creation of intellectual work. Scholars were to be compensated for their work so that more scholarly works would be created, but is this what is happening today? Authors do have exclusive rights, but there are exceptions to the laws, such as the fair-use provision and the exceptions made for libraries. It was stated that today most authors do not own their works; the publishers own the copyright to the works. Approximately 80 percent of the return of copyright revenues goes to the publisher. Part of the copyright intent was to reward the author of the original work and then the value adder. Is this added value worth 80 percent of the total revenues, as opposed to the value of the author's work? Why, then, do authors give the copyright to the publisher? Does the writer still need a publisher? In the past the publisher took the risk and added value--like authentication of the text and creation of the market for the work. However, universities are the source of much of the authorship of intellectual work, and technologies are now available that give a university the capabilities of becoming a publisher. The peer reviewers of intellectual works are faculty members who already work for the university. In essence, peer review is the mechanism publishers for authenticating the work. What is left for other publishers to do? It was decided that this point is bringing the publishers to the table. There are some publishers who know this is a problem and are working with the industry to ensure that they will have a future role, but there are many publishers who need to jump on the band wagon. Ryland reported that the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) is providing at least one forum where publishers and university representatives will get together to communicate each side of the issue. With hope, creative solutions will be established by these types of forums. Advantages and disadvantages of the copyright law were identified by the participants. The advantages mentioned are that the law encourages creativity; it rewards the writers who publish the most-used materials; it protects against unfair of materials; and it helps the system of faithful reproduction of works. Some of the disadvantages of the copyright law are that the cost of administering the law is high; the language of the law is vague and perplexing to the average user of information; the law inhibits the free flow of information; and some public relations problems occur for the agency responsible for ensuring compliance with the law. What does fair use allow a user to do with materials? A summary of the conclusions drawn from the discussions of the participants follows. …
Publication Year: 1992
Publication Date: 1992-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
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