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08/06/2006 Library warns of 'more restrictive' DRMs |
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The British Library’s Chief Executive this week warned of some of the unintended consequences of the widespread adoption of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems and urged policymakers to balance the rights of content creators with the need to maintain access in the public good.
Speaking at the launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) report into Digital Rights Management, Lynne Brindley welcomed current moves to modernise the regulatory framework for Intellectual Property (IP) – particularly the Gowers Review, to which the British Library has made a major submission – but also warned that DRMs are already having an impact on the traditional exceptions to copyright law that have existed for libraries.
“We at the British Library use DRMs to manage our collections and we recognise they can be a valuable tool,” said Lynne Brindley. “However, while protecting rights holders against infringement they can prevent copying of material for fair dealing purposes. Digital material generally comes with a contract, and these contracts are nearly always more restrictive than existing copyright law and frequently prevent copying, archiving and access by the visually impaired.”
Taking a small sample of 30 licences offered to the Library from publishers, only two were as generous in terms of access as statutory fair dealing. Other than these only two allowed archiving of the material and not one permitted copying of the whole work by the visually impaired.
“We need clarification that contracts cannot supersede statutory fair dealing rights,” she added. “We are sliding into this situation already which, in my view, is unacceptable.”
The UK national library also suggests that IP law should change to clarify that fair dealing rights refer to digital as well as print items, that copying is essential for digital preservation purposes and that the preservation needs of sound recordings from the past – as well as the future – also need to be recognised.
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