<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Teresa Hackett</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:teresa.hackett@eifl.net">teresa.hackett@eifl.net</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 8:29 AM<br>Subject: Copyright rules OK? What EIFL librarians say<br>To: <a href="mailto:IP-ENFORCEMENT@roster.wcl.american.edu">IP-ENFORCEMENT@roster.wcl.american.edu</a><br><br><br><a href="http://www.eifl.net/news/copyright-rules-ok-what-eifl-librarians-say" target="_blank">http://www.eifl.net/news/copyright-rules-ok-what-eifl-librarians-say</a><br>
<br>
Copyright rules OK? What EIFL librarians say<br>
<br>
Libraries in EIFL partner countries perform a vital role getting<br>
reading and other materials into the hands of people who need<br>
information and knowledge for education, research, health or leisure.<br>
The seven point plan submitted by EIFL in response to the European<br>
Commission's Public Consultation on the review of EU copyright rules<br>
highlights some issues that libraries want to see addressed.<br>
<br>
"Librarians want to do their work effectively, efficiently and of<br>
course, legally," said Teresa Hackett, EIFL-IP Programme Manager. "But<br>
sometimes, it seems as if the weight of the system is against this."<br>
<br>
Here are some of the things librarians in EIFL-partner countries told<br>
us for the European Commission consultation:<br>
<br>
Estonia<br>
<br>
In Estonia, university librarians spoke of frustration in not being<br>
able to provide a research student with excerpts from books that were<br>
published almost a century ago, due to copyright restrictions. Read<br>
more.<br>
<br>
Requests by public libraries to buy Estonian e-books, in support of a<br>
policy to promote the Estonian language, are being refused. Read more.<br>
<br>
Latvia<br>
<br>
In neighbouring Latvia, efforts to get agreement on best practices for<br>
acquiring e-books are stalled, leading to fears that frustrated<br>
readers will be driven away from literature in local languages, or<br>
towards illegal file-sharing sites unless a legal framework for<br>
e-lending is put in place. Read more.<br>
<br>
While the state invests in preserving the national heritage of Latvia,<br>
libraries cannot usually make the digital works publicly available. So<br>
there is a strong sense of inequality between the interests of society<br>
that has paid for the work to be preserved, and its availability for<br>
the benefit of society. Read more.<br>
<br>
Poland<br>
<br>
Digitization and preservation is a costly process, often funded by the<br>
public purse. In Poland, librarians have come to realize that the<br>
duplication of costly digitization efforts by multiple institutions in<br>
multiple countries is no longer feasible. In the near future,<br>
librarians believe that they will need to share infrastructures for<br>
digitization activities. But copyright law in Europe must enable the<br>
adoption of these and other efficiency measures. Read more.<br>
<br>
Lithuania<br>
<br>
The National Library in Lithuania, tasked with promoting Lithuania's<br>
cultural heritage in Europe, is prevented from contributing culturally<br>
significant materials to Europeana, the European Digital Library<br>
(co-funded by the European Commission). This is because copyright law<br>
stands in the way, or because it proves impossible to ascertain the<br>
copyright status of the work, and thereby to seek permission. Read<br>
more.<br>
<br>
The Lithuanian Library for the Blind cannot provide special format<br>
material for national minorities, such as books in Polish and Russian,<br>
which are in demand among senior readers who constitute the greater<br>
part of the readership. Read more.<br>
<br>
South-eastern Europe and Malawi<br>
<br>
An academic library in south-eastern Europe can no longer obtain<br>
copies of articles for researchers that are not in its own collection<br>
since the copyright-based service at the supply library in the UK was<br>
replaced by a new publisher licensing arrangement. Some items are not<br>
available at all, or are only available at commercial rates - up to<br>
four-fold price increases - that are unaffordable for the library.<br>
<br>
In addition, an array of inflexible and confusing rules regarding<br>
supply and pick-up options for the requested items are problematic in<br>
Malawi, where librarians need reasonable copyright and licensing rules<br>
that work in the real world. Read more.<br>
<br>
Read the EIFL seven point plan submitted to the European Commission<br>
Public Consultation on the review of EU copyright rules that will help<br>
to make copyright work for everyone.<br>
<a href="http://www.eifl.net/news/eifls-seven-point-plan-european-commission" target="_blank">http://www.eifl.net/news/eifls-seven-point-plan-european-commission</a><br>
<br>
-----<br>
Teresa Hackett<br>
EIFL-IP Programme Manager<br>
<a href="http://www.eifl.net/copyright" target="_blank">www.eifl.net/copyright</a><br>
-----<br>
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