Meeting of the Copyright Working Group at CENL London
Yesterday, The British Library hosted a meeting of the Copyright Working Group at CENL (Conference of European National Libraries). CENL is a network of 48 national libraries from 45 European states. The National University Library (NUK), represented by dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič for many years now, is actively engaged in this working group.
The Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market is one of the important issues being discussed at the meeting. Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič has presented the issue of the exception for education regulated in Article 5. This exception will enable the free use of copyright works in digital form for the purpose of educational illustration. Apart from this, provisions on text and data mining (Articles 3 and 4) as well as exception for the protection of cultural heritage (Articles 6 and 8 to 12), applicable to cultural heritage institutions, are also of crucial importance for national libraries. The text and data mining exception will provide the legal basis for the mining of large amounts of tests, other content and data that can be useful for study and research. Because of the cultural heritage exception, on the other hand, the libraries will be able through processes of digitalization of copyright works, make those works available online and enable the general public to access the works from their archives.
The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that maintains the Open Library, a digital library index, and is dedicated to preserving knowledge. As many of the works in the Internet Archive are under copyright, the Archive uses a system of controlled digital lending based on digital rights management to prevent unauthorized downloading or copying of copyrighted books. In March 2020, due to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet Archive established the National Emergency Library, eliminating the waiting lists used in the Open Library and expanding access to books for all readers. In June 2020, the Emergency National Library faced a lawsuit from four book publishers and was ultimately closed.
The 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (hereinafter SCCR) made substantial progress on the issues advocated by the A2K Coalition (Access to Knowledge Coalition), which IPI is a member of. This year’s session was the most productive on the issues of exceptions and limitations. James Love (Knowledge Ecology International), a long-time observer at WIPO, described the outcome and the impact of the public interest community as the strongest since the conclusion of the Marrakech Treaty, which brought global copyright exceptions for the benefit of the blind and visually impaired.
Today, March 17, 2023, a symposium on law in the information society is taking place in the golden lecture hall of the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič will present copyright aspects of artificial intelligence at the symposium.
The third day of the 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is intended for discussion on the topic of exceptions and limitations to copyright, especially in connection with the right to research.