Category: Copyright

WIPO: Report on Copyright Practices and Challenges of Museums

The World Intellectual Property Organization has released the Report on Copyright Practices and Challenges of Museums.

Here's an excerpt:

At the request of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), WIPO has carried out a research project with the objective of examining copyright practices and challenges of museums in fulfilling their missions and activities.. . .In this context, the author and the SCCR Secretariat interviewed 37 museums worldwide with different types of collections and activities, as well as other key stakeholders.

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"Confused about Copyright? Assessing Researchers’ Comprehension of Copyright Transfer Agreements"

Alexandra Kohn and Jessica Lange have published "Confused about Copyright? Assessing Researchers' Comprehension of Copyright Transfer Agreements" in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt:

INTRODUCTION Academic authors' confusion about copyright and publisher policy is often cited as a challenge to their effective sharing of their own published research, from having a chilling effect on selfarchiving in institutional and subject repositories, to leading to the posting of versions of articles on social networking sites in contravention of publisher policy and beyond. This study seeks to determine the extent to which authors understand the terms of these policies as expressed in publishers' copyright transfer agreements (CTAs), taking into account such factors as the authors' disciplines and publishing experience, as well as the wording and structure of these agreements. METHODS We distributed an online survey experiment to corresponding authors of academic research articles indexed in the Scopus database. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of two copyright transfer agreements and were subsequently asked to answer a series of questions about these agreements to determine their level of comprehension. The survey was sent to 3,154 participants, with 122 responding, representing a 4% response rate. Basic demographic information as well as information about participants' previous publishing experience was also collected. We analyzed the survey data using Ordinary Least Squared (OLS) regressions and probit regressions. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Participants demonstrated a low rate of understanding of the terms of the CTAs they were asked to read. Participants averaged a score of 33% on the survey, indicating a low comprehension level of author rights. This figure did not vary significantly, regardless of the respondents' discipline, time in academia, level of experience with publishing, or whether or not they had published previously with the publisher whose CTA they were administered. Results also indicated that participants did equally poorly on the survey regardless of which of the two CTAs they received. However, academic authors do appear to have a greater chance of understanding a CTA when a specific activity is explicitly outlined in the text of the agreement.

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"A New Text and Data Mining Exception Restrictive vs. Extensive Interpretations of Copyright Limitation"

Gaia Sofia Muto has self-archived "A New Text and Data Mining Exception Restrictive vs. Extensive Interpretations of Copyright Limitation."

Here's an excerpt:

This dissertation aims to explore copyright issues related to TDM, showing if and how TDM can fit within the current legal framework of rights and limitations. A three-step-test analysis will be provided, justifying the introduction of a more flexible, technology-neutral exception for TDM, in light of the public interest to free access to research information. Lastly the new legislative proposal will be assessed.

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"Defining the Relevant Market in Fair Use Determinations"

Xiyin Tang has self-archived "Defining the Relevant Market in Fair Use Determinations."

Here's an excerpt:

Whereas current copyright analysis and scholarship focuses overwhelmingly on the infringer's conduct, this Article argues, instead, that a copyright holder’s own actions should define the scope of the market for the work. In what I term a copyright owner’s "negative" uses of her own work—such as engaging in holdup strategies that make fair market value impossible to determine, failing to update Copyright Office records, refusing to mitigate damages, or using a copyright for litigation value rather than copyright value—the copyright owner herself has much to tell us about whether she is likely to suffer market harm.

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"The State Copyright Conundrum: What’s Your State Government’s Rule on Copyright?"

Kyle K. Courtney has published "The State Copyright Conundrum: What's Your State Government’s Rule on Copyright?" in College & Research Libraries News.

Here's an excerpt:

U.S. copyright law has a unique place in the world regarding federal works and copyright. Federal copyright law states that "Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government."1 This is a broad and clear statement that works of the federal government are in the public domain and are free for use by all.

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"The Rights Provisions of a Book Publishing Contract"

Melody Herr has published "The Rights Provisions of a Book Publishing Contract" in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt:

When signing a publishing contract, an author makes decisions which directly affect the book's availability. In order to decide judiciously which rights to retain and which to transfer to a publisher, she needs an understanding of U.S. copyright law and the author-publisher partnership. In this article, Melody Herr, PhD, a scholarly communications professional who has over 16 years of experience in academic publishing and who has authored six books herself, explains the rights provisions of a book contract. First, she discusses copyright ownership and describes the ways in which copyright's components apply to scholarly books. After enumerating the benefits and drawbacks of allocating specific rights to a publisher, she highlights contract wording to watch for and suggests the rights an author may wish to retain by negotiating an addendum. She then explains how an author may reclaim rights granted to a publisher through reversion or termination of transfer. In the conclusion, she recommends that outreach programs target scholars at critical moments when they face decisions regarding publication of their work.

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Getting Started: Implementing the Marrakesh Treaty for Persons with Print Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Librarians

IFLA has released Getting Started: Implementing the Marrakesh Treaty for Persons with Print Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Librarians.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

This guide, edited by Victoria Owen, and with the welcome support of the World Blind Union, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Electronic Information for Libraries, and the University of Toronto, offers answers to frequently asked questions. It can also be adapted by national actors to their own laws—IFLA encourages this, in order to get the largest possible number of libraries involved

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US Signs Treaty: "The Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act"

Karyn A. Temple has published "The Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act" in Copyright: Creativity at Work.

Here's an excerpt:

The MTIA amends section 121 of the Copyright Act, which has already established limitations and exceptions allowing certain authorized entities, like the Library of Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, to provide published works in accessible formats to those who have print disabilities. The MTIA reinforces section 121's mission and changes some of its key terms and definitions to comply with the text of the Marrakesh Treaty. For example, the term "blind or other persons with disabilities" is now "eligible persons," which is then defined as someone who is blind, has a perceptual or reading disability, or has a physical disability affecting their ability to read.

The MTIA also adds a new section—121A—to the Copyright Act allowing authorized entities to both export and import works in accessible formats between the United States and other countries who have signed the Marrakesh Treaty. Finally, section 121A provides guidance to authorized entities engaged in exporting or importing on establishing and following certain practices and procedures. For a more detailed summary of what the MTIA does, please visit the Office’s FAQ.

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"What’s Next with WIPO’s Ill-Advised Broadcast Treaty?"

The Creative Commons has released "What's Next with WIPO's Ill-Advised Broadcast Treaty?" by Timothy Vollmer.

Here's an excerpt:

Six years ago we wrote a blog post titled WIPO's Broadcasting Treaty: Still Harmful, Still Unnecessary. At the time, the proposed treaty—which would grant to broadcasters a separate, exclusive copyright-like right in the signals that they transmit, separate from any copyrights in the content of the transmissions—had already been on WIPO’s docket for several years. It’s still on the table today, and now some countries are calling for actions to finalise the agreement.

The current text contains many of the same damaging provisions, such as long term of protection (possibly 50 years) and little to no support for limitations and exceptions to the right which could provide needed protections for activities such as news reporting, quotation, education, personal use, and archiving.

But the dealbreaker for CC is the fact that the treaty would essentially invalidate the permissions that users of Creative Commons grant when they share their creativity under open licenses, and instead gift new and unwarranted rights to broadcasting organizations that have added little or no value to the underlying work being transmitted. This is because the rights provided to broadcasters in the treaty would apply separately from copyright, thus permitting them to restrict how the content is shared even if the creator of the video or audio content has already released it under a Creative Commons license, or if it's already in the public domain.

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