The British Library has welcomed the positive recommendations made to the Government by the Hargreaves Review, proposing an intellectual property (IP) framework designed to increase growth and innovation in the UK.
The report has recognised the importance of copyright in the digital age to education and research. Hargreaves' recommendations, including those relating to the digitisation of orphan works, text and data mining and digital preservation, are expected to have an immediate benefit for research, life-long learning and teaching. Dame Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library, particularly welcomed the recommendations for legislation to ensure that hard won copyright exceptions are protected and cannot be overridden by individual contracts. She also praised the proposal to create the world's first Digital Copyright Exchange by the end of 2012.
The British Library's submission to the Hargreaves Review called for reforms to make it easier for cultural institutions to digitise orphan works - including millions of items held in national collections where the rights-holder cannot be identified - and thereby deliver benefits for research and education. The Library also supported measures to allow text and data mining with a view to encouraging medical, environmental and other scientific research. These would be along with streamlined processes for clearing rights for commercially-produced works to be used in digital libraries and other cultural projects.
The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers and the UK's Joint Information Systems Committee have also welcomed the recommendations.
Of particular interest to publishers will be the rejection of US-style 'fair-use' laws, support for the Digital Economy Act, the creation of a Digital Copyright Exchange and harmonisation with EU laws, particularly copyright exceptions. In addition, it was recommended that accessibility to the IP system for small companies be improved, including lowering the cost barriers.
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