A need for a global text and data mining (TDM) exception
The Slovenian Copyright and Related Rights Act was amended in September. The adoption process was intensely problematic and resulted in numerous solutions at the expense of researchers and educators, while also being contrary to the national open science strategy. The issue was considered in detail by Maja Bogataj Jančič and Sandra Koren in an open access article in Sobotna priloga, Delo.
The positive changes in the amendment are due to the persistence of researchers that were supported by the Minister of digital transformation, dr. Emilija Stojmenova Duh. This resulted in the adoption of a progressive TDM exception.
We need a similar arrangement on a global scale. This is the goal of a group of academics from around the world, including Sean Fiil-Flynn, João Quintais and Carys Craig, who have published a joint opinion piece in Science Magazine, discussing legal reform to promote text and data mining research on a global scale.
The ability to undertake data analytics based on vast amounts of information using automated tools is essential to the right to research. However, copyright can stand in the way. The authors offer an overview of TDM regulation around the world and call for implementation of TDM exceptions around the world. The overview does not yet take the new Slovenian exception into account.
The authors put forward a number of proposals for copyright reform, including a WIPO international treaty to introduce copyright exceptions to permit TDM research across the globe.
The 4th Open Knowledge Day took place on Tuesday 17 October 2023, with an accompanying workshop on 18 October 2023. This year it was organised by the Open Data and Intellectual Property Institute (ODIPI) and supported by Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21).
We invite you to the fourth Open Knowledge Day and the workshop, which will take place this year within the framework of the programme and with the support of Knowledge Rights 21. The event will bring together experts from different European countries to discuss two topics: the first part will deal with the legal basis for data analytics, which is a key part of machine learning and related artificial intelligence, and the general exception for research. In the second part, open science in theory and practice will be presented both in Slovenia and in some Western Balkan countries. Representatives of research and educational institutions from Slovenia and the Western Balkan countries, as well as interested members of the public, are invited to attend.
Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, a renowned expert in copyright law, has joined the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where she will serve as an affiliate researcher for the next two years.
On Friday, October 6, 2023, the online seminar “Practical Experiences in Resolving Copyrights of Modern Book Works” took place. The seminar addressed relevant questions concerning user access to literary works in digital form.