Copyright: Interpreting the Law for Libraries, Archives and Information Services (rev. 3rd ed.)

Citation

Eisenschitz, T. (2002), "Copyright: Interpreting the Law for Libraries, Archives and Information Services (rev. 3rd ed.)", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 58 No. 4, pp. 483-485. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd.2002.58.4.483.2

This revision of the third edition has appeared only two years since the third edition, and this offers eloquent testimony to the rapid changes which have been and are taking place in copyright law nowadays. This is due largely to developments in digitised information provision and the associated legal catching up in the European Union. This is of course paralleled in America and many other countries.

This is a standard text which has proved its usefulness already in the three existing editions. It covers UK law as it may affect librarians, information professionals and archivists in their daily work. Cornish advises on copyright in the British Library and has been involved in discussions on UK legislation and also with the EU bodies. This latest version updates us on database legislation and on recent developments in licensing agreements and technical standards. The newly passed EU Information Society Directive is not included and of course the requisite national legislation is not due until late 2002. Its implementation is likely to herald a fourth edition.

The book is in question and answer form as before. There is a list of abbreviations at the start, and at the back, useful addresses and some further reading both in print and on Web sites. For ready reference, there are also a few relevant extracts from UK legislation which is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) and associated Statutory Instruments (SIs).

The first chapter (or section) notes that current law is the CDPA and lists those SIs which are most relevant to our work. Most importantly it is pointed out that various key terms such as “substantial”, “reasonable”, “periodical” and “fair dealing” are not defined and need case law to create definitive answers.

The next few sections, two to eight, cover familiar territory; what is covered by copyright, author’s and owner’s rights and the substantive law for works, recordings and broadcasts. Where necessary there are updates and clarifications, but the essence of the law has not changed since the last edition. However, this volume is useful for its simple hard facts such as disentangling and explaining the variety of copyright lifetimes provided both for different media and for works created within the European Economic Area (18 countries) or outside it.

Section 9 on Databases and Electronic Materials is new as it explains the law created by the EU Directive on protection of databases as well as bringing together other provisions relating to material in electronic form and computer software.

For databases we now have parallel copyright and database right protection and there is a potentially useful table giving examples of what protection is available to given types of databases. I say “potentially” as there is a profusion of CR and DR entries and then X to symbolise no protection, and it is not clear what each entry means. A weakness of the very brief replies to each question is that such details are not explained. Cornish goes into what is protected, what “original” means, that non‐electronic databases are also covered, and the implications of the much stricter rules on exceptions to copyright, in particular that commercially applied research will not be allowed the research or private study fair dealing exception. He also points out that “illustration” for teaching or research is an unclear phrase which will need a judge to clarify.

It is not particularly clear that for many databases, the copyright provisions are of no practical use to users as the database right provisions are more restrictive and will therefore prevail. I think it is implied in what he says, but needs to be spelled out. It is a by‐product of the two rights running in parallel for all databases which was a very late change in the Draft Directive.

This section also deals with Web sites. Material on the Web is likely to be in copyright, so one needs to treat it with care both for copying and for linking and framing where entry should be to the home page to allow for ownership information and advertising.

The next section on “Licensing schemes” is also new. It is important to remember that licences through agencies or publishers are now omnipresent and are the dominant way of customising copyright to accommodate what an organisation needs to do. So one should check licences as well as the statute law to be sure of one’s rights. Examples are given of provisions of a number of relevant licences such as the HMSO, the Newspaper Licensing Agency and the British Library’s document supply licence.

Finally there is a section on “Other matters” dealing with the international conventions, public lending right, copyright deposit and links to other legislation; human rights, data protection and freedom of information. These are important as copyright does not function in geographic or legislative isolation.

There is though no mention of technical advances that will have considerable effect on the administration of copyright. A simple example is the ability to use electronic signatures for ordering interlibrary loans and signing the copyright forms. A complex one is the creeping adoption of software to control access to and copying of electronic materials. This is likely to cause many problems. For instance protected materials cannot be copied as required when a new software platform becomes standard. They may well become redundant and unreadable.

The addresses and extracts of legislation are useful as ever.

Overall this book remains a useful and useable reference tool, and needs to keep a restricted subject area to be manageable. My caveat is that the brief answers do not allow for the complexities and reservations that often seem essential, but on the whole this is a predictable limitation and the book remains true to its intentions and is good value.