Copyright Register Urges Library Digitization to Satiate Demand for Digital Works
The Office of the Register of Copyrights advocated the mass-digitization efforts of the Library of Congress and other leading U.S. public institutions, in a recent preliminary analysis and discussion paper. Mass digitization and dissemination of books “may serve important public interest goals that justify restricting or limiting certain exclusive rights for works that are subject to a lengthy copyright term,” the report said. But the report offered more questions than answers about how libraries, Congress and the marketplace are to proceed with the digitization of works.
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The public is “eager” to obtain digitized versions of literary works that can be used on electronic reading devices, computers, and mobile phones, the report said. “In addition to newer works that are issued in ‘born digital’ e-book formats, the public wants to quickly and easily obtain digitized versions of older works for use with these devices. At the same time, rights holders including authors and publishers want to make sure the mass digitization framework evolves in a way that allows the continued development of a thriving marketplace for digitized formats of their works.”
The Library of Congress, one of the world’s largest repositories of copyright-protected materials, is engaged in “multiple, targeted scanning and digitization projects,” the report said. “The next logical step” for the Library of Congress and other leading U.S. public collecting institutions is to “move from a series of ad hoc projects to a strategic and comprehensive effort that includes prioritizing content, managing licenses with copyright owners, and coordinating navigation and points of access with other important institutions,” the report said. The office was careful to say that any review of mass book digitization would need to consider Section 108 of the U.S. Code, which covers reproduction by libraries and archives.
Last month the Digital Public Library of America (DLPA) and the European-based Europeana archives said they will begin to collaboratively offer their databases of digitized literary works to Web users for free (WID Oct 24 p1). The partnership got the approval of Archivist of the United States David Ferriero, who said digitizing every nations’ libraries was the most cost-effective and essential way to democratize the world’s information.
For-profit book digitization projects “may be beneficial to the public,” said the Register’s report, “but it may change the application of copyright law and the acceptable reach of limitations and exceptions.” Since 2004 Google has scanned and digitized more than 15 million books, many of which are protected by copyright, and continues to scan books today, the report said. Though Google’s search engine is free to users, the company does collect revenue from advertising within its search results.
The report reviewed the history and current developments in Google’s six-year court battle with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, and discussed the timeline of the proposed settlement agreement. It emphasized recent revelations that attorneys for publishers said they “have made good progress toward a settlement” and that their clients were working to resolve their differences with Google. The attorneys for the Authors Guild said the publishers’ group had made more progress toward settlement than the authors’ group, and that the publishers could conceivably settle with Google while the authors continue to litigate.
Congress needs to take a careful look at the orphan works debate and determine whether there should be more lenient or stringent search requirements for their owners, the report said. “If so, Congress would have to consider the potential impact on the exclusive rights of copyright owners, the parameters of copyright treaty obligations, and the benefit to the public,” the office said. Past orphan works legislation such as the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act, and the Orphan Works Acts of 2006 and 2008, were “a good starting point” for the orphan works discussion, the report said.
The discussion of orphan works must also consider the issue of licensing and which remedies might prove to be the most beneficial to all, the report said. “Though direct license agreements negotiated between the user and the copyright owner provide copyright owners with the greatest control over their works … this approach, however, may not be a realistic option for mass digitization projects involving large numbers of books,” the report said. “Perhaps the most basic licensing option is the use of voluntary agreements between digitizers and authors or publishers on an individual basis. These licenses offer security against infringement liability, and the Internet provides copyright owners and potential licensees with resources to find information on licensing works and to connect with each other to promote consensual exploitation of those works.”