Preserving and Accessing Our Cultural Heritage – The Role of Copyright Law,

Digitisation and the Internet

The Community Dimension

Dr. Jens Gaster

King’s College London, 30 March 2009

Europeana, Europe's Digital Library

• Europeana rolls multimedia library, museum and archive into one digital website combined with Web 2.0 features.

• Visitors to www.europeana.eu can search and explore different collections in Europe’s cultural institutions in their own language in virtual form, without having to visit multiple sites or countries.

• Inauguration on 20.11.2008• This European digital library initially concentrates on the

potential offered by text material that is free of rights

Europeana, Europe's Digital Library

The Contents of the virtual digital library

• Links the user to currently 4 million digital items. • Images - paintings, drawings, maps, photos and

pictures of museum objects. • Texts - books, newspapers, letters, diaries and

archival papers. • Sounds - music and spoken word from cylinders,

tapes, discs and radio broadcasts. • Videos - films, newsreels and TV broadcasts.

Digital Libraries

Communication “i2010: Digital Libraries”, COM (2005) 465 final, 30.9.2005

• Sets out the Commission’s strategy for digitisation, online accessibility and digital preservation of Europe's collective memory

• This collective memory includes print (books, journals, newspapers), photographs, museum objects, archival documents, audiovisual material

Governing principles for right holders

• Respect for copyright and related rights, including moral right of creators and performers of copyrighted works;

• Digitisation and use within the premises of libraries should take place with rightholders’ consent or be based on statutory exception;

• Online availability should take place with rightholders’ consent;

• Rightholders’ consent means in principle rights clearance, which should be based on individual or collective licensing or a combination thereof.

Governing principles for libraries, archives and museums

• To have legal certainty in their activities;• Access means either within the premises of libraries,

archives and museums or online availability;• For borne digital works or works digitised by rightholders

this means getting permissions for access to works;• For analogue works this means getting permissions for

large scale digitisation and access;• Legal certainty presupposes a solution for so called

orphan works: unknown or non locatable rightholders and their works.

The impact of the Infosoc Directive

Some Member States laws allow libraries and other institutions to make one single copy for preservation purposes pursuant to Article 5(2)(c) of Directive 2001/29/EC (the Copyright in the Information Society,“Infosoc Directive”).

Report of the High Level Expert Group

Interim Report on digital preservation, orphan and out-of-print works, High Level Expert Group, 17 October, 2006

• What are the key IPR challenges?• What different actions and arrangements could be

undertaken jointly by stakeholders to reduce tensions surrounding copyrights?

• Is there a need to harmonise at Community level exceptions and limitations that relate to libraries, archives, museums?

• What are possible ways for facilitating the clearance of rights for cultural institutions?”

Creative Content Online

• Commission Communication (COM (2007) 836 final)

• Commission Staff Working Document (SEC (2007) 1710, 3.1.2008

Digitisation and Digital Preservation

• Communication on scientific information in the digital age: access, dissemination and preservation, COM (2007) 56 final, 14.2.2007

• Europe’s cultural heritage at the click of a mouse - Progress on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation across the EU, COM(2008) 513 final, 11.8.2008

Copyright in the Knowledge Economy

Green Paper Copyright in the Knowledge Economy, COM(2008) 466 final, 16.7.2008

• Attempt to structure the copyright debate as it relates to scientific publishing, the digital preservation of Europe's cultural heritage, orphan works, consumer access to protected works and the special needs for the disabled to participate in the information society.

• Points to future challenges in the fields of scientific and scholarly publishing, search engines and special derogations for libraries, researchers and disabled people.

Article 151 of the ECTreaty

Article 151 (4) EC:

The Community shall take cultural aspects into account in its action under other provisions of this Treaty, in particular in order to respect and to promote the diversity of its cultures.

Sector-specific EU regulation

• Audiovisual / Television without frontiers

• E-communications

• Information society services

• Electronic commerce

• Telecom rules

• Intellectual propertry regulation (seven Directives)

The challenges

• « Unlocking » content

• Territoriality and multi-territory licensing

• Country of origin vs. Country of destination principle

• Optionality of copyright exceptions

• Legitimate use vs. piracy (enforcement Directive)

The challenges

• Cultural diversity

• Digitisation of content

• Funding

• Availability

• Access for the disabled

The response by Ministers of Culture

21./22.5.2008: exchange of views on « creative content online »

– Recognised need to maintain cultural diversity

– Heard a number of examples of good practice:• Development of agreements reconciling interests

of consumers, content creators and providers• Offering of publicly financed content online

The response by Ministers of Culture

21./22.5.2008: exchange of views on « creative content online »– Recognised need for reflecting about piracy

problem– Suggested that management of multi-territory

licences involves risk of creating monopolies

The response by Ministers of Culture

• Presidency conference in Avignon, 17./18.11.2008 (conclusions)– Development of new economic models crucial

for creation of more online content– Importance of special tax measures – Need for striking a balance between data

protection, freedom of expression & information and protection of IP

– Commission to report on developments in 18-months-time

The response by Ministers of Culture

20./21.11.2008: exchange of views– Need for stepping up fight against IP piracy– Need for developing legal aspects for

technological solutions– Promotion of respect for copyright and related

rights– Promotion of continous stakeholder dialogue– Need for developing appropriate legal

framework for multi-territorial licensing