Policy Approaches to Copyright in HEIs: A Study for the JISC Committee on Awareness, Liaison and Training

Citation

Eric Davies, J. (2001), "Policy Approaches to Copyright in HEIs: A Study for the JISC Committee on Awareness, Liaison and Training", Library Management, Vol. 22 No. 1/2, pp. 103-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm.2001.22.1_2.103.4

It is good to see copyright getting “fashionable” as evidenced by the attention that it is being accorded in recent seminars and various publications of which these three are examples. For years it was difficult to get most people (librarians included) to stir from a collective torpor regarding copyright. It was as if they thought that if they ignored it for long enough it would go away or at least no one (especially the rights owners) would notice the pickpocketing of intellectual property that was being tacitly ignored. Then we had licensing and some court cases followed by (gee wiz!) digitisation which really made everybody sit up and take notice. Publishers woke up to the threat that being able to make perfect copies every time all the time and sending them around the world posed and they got even more “picky” about things. Users of material realised that the digital revolution needed a new framework of compliance and exploitation, not least because use and misuse were often more visible and measurable. (You can hardly escape notice if you scan a document and “pump” it out on the World Wide Web!). There was also the faltering realisation of the symbiotic relationship between creators, distributors and users of information and that it did no one any good to drive any of the others into penury. John Feather (1998) (as he always does) summed things up so well in The Information Society: A Study of Continuity and Change:

… the financial implications are everywhere; we have created a chain of information supply in which the dissemination of the printed word can be achieved only by the exchange of money.

Make no mistake then, we need copyright.

These three books in their own way address various aspects of copyright policies and practices today.

Paul Pedley’s book is one of the highly successful series of Aslib Know‐How Guides which have done much to provide busy library managers with knowledge and advice in a concise and comprehensible format. This title follows the pattern and offers a reasonably up to date explanation of some copyright basics in plain language. There are some shortcomings in content and structure, however, of which more later.

The book begins with a helpful list of abbreviations. After being introduced to the basic ideas of copyright the reader is guided through the arcana of permitted acts such as “fair dealing” and library privilege. This is followed by a section outlining licences and licensing bodies, including, amongst others, the CLA and NLA. There follows material providing good coverage of copyright in the digitised environment and then relevant documentation is enumerated and briefly described. This is followed by a section including “case law” although, as the author points out, most of the cases have been settled out of court, thus denying seekers of truth, the satisfaction of definitive rulings, or at least some clarification of law.

The section on “Copyright in the work environment” is a series of case studies based on different commercial library and information contexts. I am not sure that in such a basic introduction this section works; so much important and new material is introduced here which really belongs in the more structured body of the book where it could be presented more logically, and importantly, found more easily. For example, the section on licences omits mention of those offered by BSI; an organisation whose output is of great importance to a variety of institutions, but they are discussed in one of the case studies. The problem is exacerbated by there being no index to the book. Authors need to remember that most people (and especially librarians) read books on copyright to find quick – sometimes very quick – answers.

The final sections of the book comprise a reference source by providing details of relevant reading, organisations and Web sites. Surprisingly, ASLIB’s own loose leaf Guide to Copyright (edited by Oppenheim, Rosenblatt and Wall (1994)) arguably the best source for information and advice on this topic, and one to which I frequently turn, is not included in the list of useful books and journals.

The book is entitled: Copyright for Library and Information Service Professionals, but a very narrow definition of “information service” appears to prevail – these days academic libraries and public libraries regard themselves, or part of themselves as information services. I discern an orientation towards the “special” library sector in the text, but perhaps as it originates from the ASLIB stable it should not be a surprise. The discussion on the CLA Licence for example, centres around the business licence and makes little reference to study course packs except en passant in describing the CLA’s CLARCS system. The “Higher education copyright accord” document, the cornerstone of compliance procedure in the sector, does not get a mention. Study packs represent a growing phenomenon in education and the CLA interprets their use as secondary publishing warranting special permissions “clearance” and payment. An allied issue is the maintenance of photocopies in “Short loan or student reference collections”. Both areas fully addressed in the Accord. In addition, if we are to have case studies, and as I stated above, I am not at all sure that they are appropriate, then some examples of practice in the academic environment would be useful, as would some in the public library domain – both sectors encounter particular problems and issues in the provision of information services.

A whole area of media – the audio‐visual environment – where copyright and acquiring permissions through licensing are important, is neglected. There is no mention of DACS other than in the list of addresses, or of the processes for acquiring licences for off‐air recording. This represents a significant area for some librarians; perhaps it is the “special library” bias once more.

Occasionally, the author also lapses at times into too much comment and telling us what should happen, rather than telling it like it is. For example, in introducing the Chapter on “Digital use of copyright material” he asserts, admittedly constructively, that:

We need to work together as a profession towards defining a model, whereby electronic information delivery and storage can be exploited fully …

Yes, yes we know that the situation needs tidying up, but in what is meant to be a basic introduction this adds nothing to one’s understanding of where we are, and what we do now. Polemic has no place in a book like this unless it explains something more clearly. More welcome, and a source of reassurance are the author’s observations, clearly based on experience, on the difficult role of the librarian in adjudicating on copyright and becoming a sort of “buffer” between rights owners and impatient users. This is really telling it like it is in the real world.

I do not think that this book seriously rivals Wall’s Copyright Made Easier, or Cornish’s Copyright: Interpreting the Law for Libraries, Archives and Information Services for anyone who wants reading matter to help chart through the complicated waters of managing copyright compliance. Furthermore, other than as a very basic introduction, it has limitations as a student text. Nonetheless, it does offer the newcomer to copyright some information and advice in a format that is conveniently brief and, generally, to the point.

Ralph Weedon’s report is the result of a study undertaken for the JISC Committee for Awareness Liaison and Training (JCALT). The report is based on an extensive amount of desk research together with a survey of higher education institutions, which was conducted through questionnaires, supplemented by visits to nine selected institutions and telephone interviews with a range of academic staff. The outcomes from these components of the study are discussed in detail. There is also an overview chapter of “Main findings” which includes recommendations and guidelines for action. The questionnaire text is included as an appendix. Other material includes a very useful glossary and a bibliography which includes details of print and WWW‐based material.

It is clear that there is a wide variation in approach to copyright in this sector with greatly differing policies and practices in place. The focus of responsibility for copyright also varies around institutions, and is sometimes dispersed or “fragmented” within an institution. This in itself causes surveys of this kind some problems; for example, who in the institution can best answer the questions posed? Moreover, it plays havoc with attempts to generalise many of the findings.

Copyright is addressed from two perspectives:

1. 1.

   (1) Compliance (what may be described as input copyright involving the use of “third party” produced material).

2. 2.

   (2) Exploitation and dissemination (what may be described as output copyright involving material produced inside an institution).

Though the report looks at both, there is quite an emphasis on the latter in terms of who owns output copyright and how it is to be exploited to advantage. The increasing competition between institutions and the commodification and “packaging” of course material, in particular for distance learning scenarios, render this an issue that will become more problematical in future. It is worth remembering that copyright in material produced by an employee belongs to the employer under our legislation. But what of the situation with student work? The report explores the conjecture surrounding both.

It comes as no surprise to learn that at the individual level there is a general lack of awareness of the legal boundaries of copyright, but it is nevertheless useful to have such information confirmed in an empirical study.

One interesting (and worrying) finding is that:

Copyright issues are not high in terms of institutional priorities, as the financial implications are perceived to be not comparable with other concerns. The perceived low risks of legal action for infringement of copyright and loss of copyright owned by universities together with the perceived low potential of copyright for generating revenue all contribute towards copyright not being given priority.

So all this fuss that some of us make about copyright is not really appreciated at the strategic level and our anxieties are not shared!Things may change after a few more court cases, or when more of higher education wakes up to the fact that learning material, knowledge and information are tradeable and traded already in some domains.

In looking at compliance mechanisms and licensing the following finding, of direct relevance to library managers, is both intriguing and, given the usual stance taken by the user community on licence costs, together with the fact that the next round of CLA licence negotiations are looming, somewhat perplexing:

Despite the fact that the CLA Licence costs institutions a considerable sum, it is relatively small in comparison to other areas of their budget and is rarely a priority.

So that is alright then? We do not have to drag out the next lot of negotiations over the licence for heaven knows how long just to save a few quid here and there? Somehow, I do not think that it will happen that way!

The report reveals a great deal of useful and interesting information about policies for, attitudes to, and practices regarding copyright in higher education. It also provides a sound interpretation of the basics of copyright as they impinge on this sector. Its objective of identifying and describing best practice was not a resounding success for a variety of reasons, some of which relate to the diversity of activity that was found and the complex nature of the issue. Nevertheless, the recommendations and guidelines offered form a very useful blueprint for the sector and if they were adopted would make life a lot easier for everybody. The report is worth reading for these alone.

I would highly recommend this report to anyone working in the sector who wants to get a “firmer grip” on the theory and practice of copyright management.

The NORDINFO Report addresses some important issues for today and tomorrow. How are we going to ensure that posterity will have anything from the online digital emporium of today to study? There is a range of issues to be addressed involving political, legal, managerial and technological aspects. How do we define what is wanted and collect it? How do we preserve it? How do we use it? Cutting across all these questions in the digital environment is the issue of copyright, and in the online networked context it is even more challenging. Collecting is not just a matter of acquiring a physical copy; it may involve accessing a remote resource and copying it – entirely!Preservation may involve making local extra back‐up copies and occasionally re‐formatting or refreshing existing material to ensure that it is still readable. Using it may involve making temporary copies in memory – and what about the mechanics of remote access? This short, but highly informative report assembles some of these issues and discusses them in the context of national and international measures.

The report is divided into sections. The first contains definitions and introduces the issues. This is followed by a section outlining the fundamentals of legal deposit and copyright. Section three discusses the detailed aspects of legal deposit of online documents and explores some of the issues noted above regarding acquisition, preservation and access. There is a lot of stimulating material here.

There follows a section with brief outlines of the “state of play” regarding relevant laws in specific countries. It is divided into two parts; one covering Nordic nations (this is a NORDINFO Report after all!) and another covering other European countries, including England. Section five is a brief consideration of technical solutions to managing the scenario and includes the potential of applying ECMS to the situation. The sixth section is a pithy restatement of some of the questions raised by this topic. The last section is a very useful structured bibliography containing references to print and WWW items.

A good half of the document is devoted to the texts of the latest WIPO Copyright Treaty and the EU Directive on Copyright, both of which have exercised minds and raised anxiety levels recently.

The NORDINFO Report is somewhat specialised, but nonetheless, an important source for library managers if they are to understand some of the issues about collecting, preserving and exploiting the digital cultural memory within the boundaries of a copyright framework often designed without such a format in mind. There is a need for wide involvement in this issue, the collection, preservation and use of this material is important in a number of contexts – it is no good leaving it to the policy makers and the lawyers, else we will end up with no usable archive of important material and hardly anybody knowing or caring. The Report is not long and it is well written. So get reading!