----- Forwarded by Richard Abbott/LeisureServices/BCC on 09/01/2013 13:54
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Fiona
Tait/LeisureServi
ces/BCC To
LCS01ArchivesandHeritage
04/01/2013 08:27 cc
Subject
Subject: Government policy on
copyright
As not all if us are on the Archives listserv, thought I'd send this on:
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2013 09:34:50 +0000
From: "Padfield, Tim" <[log in to unmask]>
Colleagues
Copyright law is set to change significantly over the next year. This note
sets out some expected changes that are likely to have an impact on
archivists. Apologies for its length.
The Enterrprise and Regulatory Reform Bill is currently before Parliament.
It contains copyright elements that will need to be supplemented by
regulations, if they are passed, but the Intellectual Property Office (IPO)
is already working on drafting. Commencement might be as early as October
2013. Important points for archives are:
* removal of the 2039 terminal dates and their replacement by
(probably) standard terms, notably life plus 70 years. There might be a
short transition period (5 years, as in the USA?). This will remove all
works created before about 1870 or a bit earlier from copyright at a
stroke.
* introduction of a licensing scheme for the use of orphan works,
so long as a diligent search has been carried out. Licensing is likely to
be by a government body. This will not assist mass digitisation.
We shall know more about the impact of these changes once the Act has
received Royal Assent and in particular once we can see the regulations.
On 20 December the Government published its long-awaited white paper<
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/response-2011-copyright-final.pdf> on reform of the
copyright exceptions. The changes outlined will have huge implications for
the general public, for archivists and librarians, for museums
professionals and for public sector organisations. Implementing regulations
are intended to come into force in October 2013. There will be no further
consultation on the policy, but the draft regulations will be published for
comment on the technical details.
General points
The motivation of the Government has been set out (p 8 para 6):
'Economic growth is a principal motivator but fairness, the reputation of
the copyright system, the consequences of increasingly widespread digital
technologies and a range of wider social goods such as education and
culture are also important considerations.'
Contracts will be prevented from overriding exceptions where this is
permitted and desirable. There will be no general provision on this because
some exceptions must be able to be replaced by contract.
Private copying
People who own a copy of any kind of copyright work (eg music recording,
ebook) will be able to copy it to any medium for their own personal use. No
copy may be supplied to anyone else (eg family, friend). Contract override
will be prevented.
Quotation
Fair dealing for criticism and review to be extended to all forms of
quotation, for instance to allow citation and bibliographies of books
(titles are capable now of being copyright works in themselves) and in
articles. Contract override will be prevented.
Research and private study
Fair dealing and the library and archive copying exceptions for users are
to be extended to all types of work (though the IPO appears to think,
mistakenly, that library and archive copying already applies to artistic
works (p 32 para 3, p 35 para 1)). Contract override will be prevented.
The IPO is to consider removing or simplifying the requirement for a
declaration form when copies are made by libraries and archives.
A new exception will permit access to digitally-preserved material on
dedicated terminals on the premises of libraries and archives. This
exception does not currently exist in UK law but I fear that some archives
are infringing by already providing this service. If so they should
consider whether they should use dedicated terminals for online access to
the records so that they are at least compliant when the law changes.
Archives get special mention in relation to this subject in the
introductory sections (p 8 para 3):
'Archives stand to save money from being able to copy works and share them
by computer terminals on their premises rather than shifting fragile
documents back and forth from storage, and both users and society will
benefit from improved access to those works.'
Education
The non-reprographic copying exceptions and examination exception will be
widened and replaced by a new fair dealing exception for non-commercial
educational use. This will apply for instance to use of material on
whiteboards and the publication on intranets of past exam papers. It
remains to be seen how use for examination (which currently includes
research for an examined thesis) will be covered. The exception will apply
to all organisations and individuals, not just educational establishments,
and so would potentially apply to all archives.
Licensing of reprographic copying for educational use will continue, but
the exception permitting copying where a licence is not available will be
extended and all kinds of work will be covered.
The definition of an educational establishment will be widened to cover
institutions with an educational purpose, such as museums. Archives are not
mentioned, but maybe they will be included. An educational copying licence
would be required.
Distance learning will be covered.
Disabled
Exceptions for the visually impaired to be extended to all disabled where
the disability prevents access, and to all kinds of work unless the work is
available commercially. Contract override will be prevented.
Preservation
Preservation copying is to be extended to museums and galleries, is to
apply to all kinds of work in the permanent collection of a library,
archive, museum or gallery so long as a replacement is not commercially
available, and is to be permitted as often as necessary for the
preservation purpose. Contract override will be prevented. The procedure
for identifying institutions that may preserve folk materials is to be
simplified.
Public administration
The public administration exceptions are to be extended to permit works
that are publicly available (even if unpublished) to be made available
online (and so reduce the number of FoI applications). Contract override
will be possible for unpublished works. This might be important for
archives, but that depends on the details.
Copyright Notices
The IPO will issue copyright notices for non-experts on general interest
issues where there appears to be confusion about copyright law. This may be
on its own initiative or as result of a request. Notices wouild be
authoritative and would be taken into account by the courts but would be
non-statutory. They will inform any future review of the CDPA.
... and a happy New Year to all.
Tim
------------------
Tim Padfield
Copyright Officer and Information Policy Consultant
The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU
+44 (0)20 8392 5381
[log in to unmask]
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
PLEASE NOTE: Any advice given must not be treated as legal advice, for
which professional advice should be sought
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