Elisabeth M. LongDigital Library Development CenterUniversity of Chicago Libraryelong@uchicago.edu

CreativeCommons.org:CreativeCommons.org:Publishing in the Digital Publishing in the Digital AgeAgeThe Library and The Library and CopyrightCopyright

Why now?Why now? Past technologies:

Limited/localized distribution Reproduction process slow Clunky interfaces

Digital technology: Global distribution Ease of reproduction Enhanced functionality

Copyright and Copyright and LibrariesLibraries Materials we want to use

How do we know if it is under copyright? Well if it was published in 1938 and it doesn’t have a copyright

statement then it is in the public domain, but if it did have a copyright statement it may be under copyright, but if and only if the copyright was renewed 28 years later, and this is assuming that the book in question was published in the United States……

What rights can we exercise? What barriers prevent us?

Materials that we produce What rights should we claim? How can we effectively disseminate?

Materials We Want to Materials We Want to UseUse Make available for research and teaching

E-reserve Licensed material Course management systems

Convert for better accessibility/functionality e.g. web distribution, full-text searching

Archive and preserve Print materials Ephemeral, born-digital materials

Archiving Born-digital Archiving Born-digital MaterialsMaterials Government documents

Here today, gone tomorrow Copyright status of independent contractor-

produced material on websites Grey literature

Reports, conference proceedings, pre-prints, technical specs and standards, etc.

Corporate Web sites Academic Web sites Faculty papers and lectures

What are the What are the Problems?Problems? Investigation procedure: long and costly

Law is complex Low response rates, inconclusive results

Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act Protect Mickey Mouse! Annual passage of materials into the

public domain frozen until 2018 Law since 1989: works copyrighted by

default

Copyright By Copyright By Default…Default… Balance tipped towards restrictiveness Intent does not equal law

Author’s apparent non-enforcement does not give us explicit rights

Who is copyright holder? Without notice – hard to tell

What year did copyright begin? Web publications often have only a current

date stamp – no indication of original publication date

Where Does This Leave Where Does This Leave Us?Us? Can’t collect materials we would have in

print Collecting web-based ‘born-digital’ materials

requires copying

Copyright restrictions make us hesitant to archive Dark archive not acceptable solution

These problems will increase exponentially for the librarian of the future

Materials We ProduceMaterials We Produce Digitized collections Web pages Databases Software Metadata

Our ResponsibilitiesOur Responsibilities We are They

We create the problems just described if we don’t think about our role as content producers

Balance our interests Protect our rights but…. Freely disseminate information

Consider the legacy we will leave

What To Do?What To Do?

What To Do?What To Do? Advocacy and Communication

Within Library Within University or other Organization

Political Activism CreativeCommons-type solutions

Reversing the trend towards restrictiveness

Don’t leave the librarian of the future in the same situation we are in now

Elisabeth M. LongElisabeth M. Long University of Chicago Library

Co-director, Digital Library Development Centerelong@uchicago.edu

Don’t leave the librarian of the Don’t leave the librarian of the future with the same challenges future with the same challenges we face nowwe face nowSlides available at: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/dldc/talks/2004/aall-creativecommons/