Balance in copyright law demanded by British Library

A British Library (BL) survey published this morning found that 93% of UK researchers believed, “access to online research material should be the same as for books”. The BL said this means that “those 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 survey forms part of the British Library’s official response to UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) consultation on copyright. The scheme was launched earlier in the year following a year-long examination of copyright and Intellectual Property law in the UK by Andrew Gowers.

In a four page briefing document, entitled, “Digital is not different – maintaining balance in copyright”, the BL have also officially outlined their position on exceptions to copyright, calling for clarification in the law regarding the use of ‘fair dealing’ or ‘library privilege’. This refers to making single copies of protected digital works without necessitating permission from the rights holder. 68% of the 320 survey respondents also said they were against having different fair dealing laws based on whether research material was in a paper rather than electronic format.

For the purposes of making archival copies, the BL said, “Libraries must be allowed to make a reasonable number of copies for preservation purposes, as recommended by the Gowers Review”. Calls were also made to allow libraries to dodge Technical Protection Measures (TPM’s) or Digital Rights Management technology if they interfere with copyright exceptions.

Commenting on the survey results BL Chief, Dame Lynne Brindley, said “Striking the right balance on IP in the digital age is essential to support an innovative knowledge economy. Let’s not wake up in five years’ time and realise we had unwittingly lost a fundamental building block for innovation, research and heritage in the UK.”