[Opengenalliance] Cambridge University library digitisation

[Javier Ruiz]

Guy

I think the legal and ethical aspects are different. You do have copyright of images and database rights, but ultimately what is being questioned is whether the model of public libraries and archives of the past few hundred years is being hollowed out, while the public domain is being re-copyrighted in digital form.

This goes beyond cost and prices, as we can see in the debates about Google Books which provide free access but restrict further reuses on public domain works.

I have heard the travelling costs argument many times, but apart from genealogy nobody else looking at Internet economy seems to buy it. I mean, looking at travelling can be useful to analyse the cost equivalence of remote working instead of commuting, or video conference instead of flying. In relation to data pricing everyone -- apart from MLAs business development managers -- looks at things like fixed and marginal costs of production and distribution. Travel substitution is the very essence of the net, but online supermarkets do not charge people extra for the savings in petrol, they just charge for the delivery of the goods. Paper books should be cheaper than e-books as they don't pay VAT, or should be e-books cheaper given the cost of making a copy is zero? Only that you do not actually buy an ebook, juts a license to read it.  

The goalposts and the whole pitch have moved with the transition to the digital economy, particularly for information based goods and services. So yes, there are costs and opportunities and someone is going to pay, but it is a lot more complicated than petrol vs broadband, particularly when dealing with public or semi-public institutions (such as copyright libraries that never paid for their holdings in the first place).

Another issue is that moving people online access as substitute of physical access is a suicidal death spiral for institutions. The smart thing to do is use online access to promote extra value added services and encourage more visits to the buildings in the case of museums and libraries, or to the geographical area in the case of archives, which should be seen as part of a wider cultural promotion policy.


-- 
Javier Ruiz
javier at openrightsgroup.org
+44(0)7877 911 412
@javierruiz


On Wednesday, 4 January 2012 at 07:23, Guy Etchells wrote:

> What seems to be missed here is in Europe and the UK we also have a law 
> which makes Database Right part of Copyright.
> This gives protection for 15 years from the date of the last addition to 
> the database.
> 
> Database Right acknowledges sweat of the brow and costs.
> 
> This allows Cambridge to claim copyright on the database collection of 
> digitised images.
> 
> Such protection is required if the public wish to enjoy access to such 
> collections at a cost far less than travelling to read the paper book.
> Cheers
> Guy
> 
> 
> -- 
> http://freespace.virgin.net/guy.etchells/ The site that gives you facts 
> not promises
> 
> 
> 
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