Cave, Deegan and Heinink (2000)
Contents
Source Details
Cave, Deegan and Heinink (2000) | |
Title: | Copyright clearance in the refugee studies centre digital library project |
Author(s): | Cave, M., Deegan, M., Heinink, L. |
Year: | 2000 |
Citation: | Cave, M., Deegan, M. and Heinink, L., 2000. Copyright clearance in the refugee studies centre digital library project. RLG DigiNews, 4(5). |
Link(s): | Definitive , Open Access |
Key Related Studies: | |
Discipline: | |
Linked by: |
About the Data | |
Data Description: | The article consists of one case study of refugee studies centre digital library project. |
Data Type: | Primary data |
Secondary Data Sources: | |
Data Collection Methods: | |
Data Analysis Methods: | |
Industry(ies): | |
Country(ies): | |
Cross Country Study?: | No |
Comparative Study?: | No |
Literature review?: | No |
Government or policy study?: | No |
Time Period(s) of Collection: |
|
Funder(s): |
Abstract
Clearing and protecting copyright are two major challenges facing every digital library today. With the increasing diversity of materials held within a given collection and specific rules applying to the different media, libraries must ensure that procedures are put in place to deal with complex issues of copyright when acquiring new material, digitizing existing material, and looking to protect against misuse of their own collections. This article describes the copyright issues encountered and the procedures adopted by the Refugees Studies Centre Digital Library Project.
Main Results of the Study
This article is a case study of the process of clearing copyright for the Refugees Studies Centre Digital Library Project.The authors found that clearing copyright for documents intended for the library was difficult and costly, but there was no way to avoid having to clear copyright when scanning modern printed materials — whether they are published or not. The authors believe that there are still some unresolved legal issues, but conservatism in interpreting the law is probably wise, and getting indemnity insurance in case something goes wrong is vital. This may be a cost on the project, but those working in large institutions may find that the institution's insurers will be prepared to apply coverage from existing policies. In the case of the authors of the study, they satisfied the University's insurers that they were taking all reasonable steps to apply the proper processes. The key points were a) the risks were low because they were doing things properly and there was a lot of goodwill on the part of the rights holders to their aims and b) there was never any question that someone could lose revenue from what they were doing as these are materials of no monetary value.
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
Clearing copyright for documents for the library is a complex and lengthy but necessary task. The authors took the view that interpreting the law conservatively was the best option, but a simplification and clarification of the law would be helpful to the task of clearing copyright.
Coverage of Study
Datasets
Sample size: | 1 |
Level of aggregation: | Case Study |
Period of material under study: | 1997 to 2000 |