Some proposals regarding copyright clearance and digitisation in higher education

Abstract

Reports the results of a study undertaken to consider the issues relating to the clearance of rights by British higher education institutions for the digitisation of materials published in print. Current licensing models frequently involve prices which librarians find daunting and have no mechanism for recovering from users. There is also considerable variation in pricing of materials. The authors believe that a ‘one-stop shop’ for the clearance of digitisation rights would be a highly desirable development. However, negotiability of rates may be made impossible by the introduction of ‘one-stop shopping’ through a centralised agency. Electronic copyright management system (ECMS) technology for solving the many problems of managing licences for digitised content is not yet proven. Not having ECMS, a strong ‘compliance culture’ will be essential. Users and rights owners want straightforward, simple and, above all, brief contracts for licensing. There is therefore a need for a shared, unambiguous licence vocabulary. The paper suggests a set of definitions of uses and user types. Using these definitions, a matrix of use and users is proposed to show types of activities for which a library may seek to license materials from a publisher and for which a publisher may grant a licence. Many of the problems could be resolved if the suggested ‘one-stop shop’ central agency acted on behalf of publishers in granting digital rights (or acting as a clearing house for requests).