Proposal
for a Directive on Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society
COM(97)628
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg15/en/intprop/intprop/1100.htm
Response from The Library Association
II. THE NEED FOR ADEQUATE EXCEPTIONS IN
COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION
We urge therefore that particular attention is
given to our views regarding the importance of the need for adequate exceptions and
limitations to keep the balance in copyright. In the information society, libraries will
have a crucial role as gateways to the information resources on the global superhighways.
Society is dependent on democratic access to information. Copyright protects not only the
rights owners of a work, but also public access to that work once it is published. Access
to information must be regarded as a civic right, not simply as a piece of merchandise, a
buy-and-sell item. There is a societal need to maintain a balance between the rights of
authors and the public interests in particular for education, research and access to
information. This was reflected in the Berne Convention of 1886 and the recognition of
this need was confirmed by 157 nations in the Preamble of the recently adopted WIPO
Copyright Treaty.
A sufficient level of access and affordable use of
copyrighted information in a digital environment would be safeguarded by ensuring the
following fair practices by statutory provisions that should apply to all types of
libraries, not only public libraries, as well as to archival institutions:
- the viewing, browsing, listening to and copying of digital
material for private, educational and research purposes in libraries and archival
institutions; (NB Browsing, in this sense is the action, by a natural
person, of cursorily reading from or listening to a work to see whether further use of the
work is wanted. This is separate from web browsing which is dictated by a technological
process as in Recital 23.)
- the making of a digital copy for archival and preservation
purposes by libraries and archival institutions;
- the copying of a limited number of pages on paper or on
diskette of a digital work by libraries and archival institutions for their users;
- the making of a copy on audio, visual or audio-visual
recording media by private individuals for personal use and for non-commercial ends.
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