Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Tuesday, April 08, 2008

British Library wants to protect user rights in the digital age

“Digital is not different” say 93% of UK researchers, a press release from the British Library, April 8, 2008.  Excerpt:

Access to online research material should be the same as for books - say 93% of respondents to a British Library survey on researchers' attitudes and needs in the digital age. An overwhelming majority of the survey participants agreed that, in the age of the internet, anyone involved in non-commercial research should be allowed to copy parts of electronically published works such as online articles, news broadcasts, film or sound recordings. The British Library conducted the research because the balance in copyright is being undermined in the digital era.

87% of respondents stated they should be able to use exceptions and fair dealing in the digital age. Fair dealing is the ‘right' to make a copy from an in-copyright work without permission from, or remuneration to, the rights holder for non-commercial research, private study, criticism, review and news reporting. For example, most individual copying by researchers at university for academic purposes is done under the fair dealing provision in UK law. 68% of the survey respondents are opposed to having different fair dealing laws for material in paper or electronic format. The British Library will be putting these points, on behalf of researchers, to the UK Intellectual Property Office in the current consultation on copyright exceptions....