[sword-devel] [Fwd: Re: general copyright Copyright of Digital Reproduction of Public Domain Material]

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 11:41:14 -0800

Before you read this response, it may be helpful to scroll down and read my very specific restatement of the question to the U.S. Copyright Office.
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We're sorry, but as we are prohibited from providing legal advice or opinion, we are unable to comment on this specific situation.  However, as a general matter, unless a party has added original, copyrightable authorship to the public domain matter, there is no copyright violation in reproducing this matter, whether or not it is included in a copyrightable compilation. 
 
As for the patron's exposure to liability, his/her use of protected material may considered a "fair use" under Section 107 of the copyright law. The "fair use" exemption permits limited reproduction of protected matter when the use is for the purpose of "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research" and certain criteria is met.  It is often relied upon for educational and scholarly use of protected matter when securing permission is unduly burdensome or impracticable and inability to use the matter would thwart one of the above-mentioned purposes.  For the statutory provision, see http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107.   In addition, please see our discussion of the fair use exemption at http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html .
 
As for the library's exposure to liability, subparagraphs (d) and (e) in Section 108 provide the guidelines for permissible copying of protected matter for patrons.  Please see Circular 21 at http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf, which includes information on library exemptions generally as well as discussion of the legislative intent of these provisions .  Please be advised that Circular 21 does not reflect the recent revisions to Section 108.   Nevertheless, it is still a useful resource, and may be pertinent to your inquiry.  

 

You may also find informative the background paper, "Overview of the Libraries and Archives Exception in the Copyright Act: Background, History, and Meaning", provided by the Section 108 Study Group, a committee of experts convened by the Library of Congress to study the exemptions as they pertain to the digital age.    Please see http://www.loc.gov/section108/papers.html.   

 

Other useful web-based resources may be found at: 

 

http://librarylaw.com/  including http://www.librarylaw.com/Copyright_and_Libraries.html

http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/cprtindx.htm#top

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/library_resources/index.html

http://www.cni.org/

http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/Default1964.htm

http://kasunic.com/

 

If you have an office of legal counsel available to you, you may wish to consult them on the application of the law to your specific issue.
 
rg
 
 
**************IMPORTANT NOTE**************
As of July 1, 2006, most filing fees are $45 per application.
For other fees, please see:
http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html
 

**********************************
Copyright Office
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave SE 
Washington DC 20559
(202) 707-3000
www.copyright.gov
**********************************

>>> "Troy A. Griffitts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 11/6/2006 4:10:39 AM >>>
Dear RG,
    Thank you for your kind and thorough reply.  The first 2 answers are
very helpful.  My apologies for not wording the 3rd question well.  May
I try again, with specifics?  Your responses are greatly appreciated.

If Organization (UCI), scans an uncopyrighted, printed work from the
1800s (Hesychius) and releases a compilation CD (TLG) containing this
etext along with other etext scans of uncopyrighted works; then if
Library (ASU) subscribes to a service to receive this CD collection from
UCI and makes this CD collection available to their patrons; would a
patron be violating copyright law by copying this single etext
(Hesychius) from this CD collection (TLG) and then freely making this
etext or portions thereof available for public reading from a website?


Thank you again for your thoughtful and expert response.

    -Troy A. Griffitts




Copyright Information wrote:
> In regards to a printed work which has passed out of copyright, or was never under copyright, is a faithful electronic reproduction a copyrightable entity?
> -No.  Merely reformatting a work is not considered copyrightable authorship.
>
> Is a collection of such entities a copyrightable entity?
> -Possibly.  Copyright protection extends to original "compilations" of preexisting or noncopyrightable matter,  in which the original copyrightable authorship is characterized as "the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship".  However, such protection does not give the author of the compilation any exclusive rights to the matter compiled.  For further details, please see http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.html
>
> If a State library makes an electronic collection of such works available to the public, is it a violation of copyright to copy and use, for research or any other purpose, and make freely available for others to use, a single entity from said collection of entities of electronic reproductions of uncopyrighted printed works?
> -Section 108 of the copyright law provides that it is permissible for a library or archive to make a limited number of copies of certain types of protected works for preservation, archival or lending purposes, particularly if the work is no longer available in the marketplace.  Please be advised that the guidelines for exempted reproduction activities in this section are highly specific and narrowly applied, especially as they pertain to digital copies.  You may access this provision of the law at http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#108.    
>
> rg
>
>
>
> **************IMPORTANT NOTE**************
> As of July 1, 2006, most filing fees are $45 per application.
> For other fees, please see:
> http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html
>
>
> **********************************
> Copyright Office
> Library of Congress
> 101 Independence Ave SE 
> Washington DC 20559
> (202) 707-3000
> www.copyright.gov
> **********************************
>>>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 11/03/06 8:25 PM >>>
> In regards to a printed work which has passed out of copyright, or was never under copyright, is a faithful electronic reproduction a copyrightable entity?
>
> Is a collection of such entities a copyrightable entity?
>
> If a State library makes an electronic collection of such works available to the public, is it a violation of copyright to copy and use, for research or any other purpose, and make freely available for others to use, a single entity from said collection of entities of electronic reproductions of uncopyrighted printed works?
>
> Thank you for your time and expert response.
>
> Troy A. Griffitts
>
> Question submitted at 20:25 on 11/3/06.
>


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