----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Forwarded from the NINCH list.
Judy
-------------Forwarded Message-----------------
From: INTERNET:[log in to unmask], INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
To: Multiple recipients of list, INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
Date: 7/16/97 12:07 PM
RE: ENDORSEMENT OF COPYRIGHT PRINCIPLES
----------------------------------------------------------
NINCH ANNOUNCEMENT
July 16, 1997
NHA PRINCIPLES ENDORSED BY CAA & ARL: OTHER ENDORSEMENTS NEEDED
The boards of the College Art Association and the Association of Research
Libraries recently voted to endorse the "BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGING
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT." This brings the total of
endorsees to six organizations, including the NHA's own sponsorship. The
National Humanities Alliance is an umbrella organization representing
nearly 90 organizations concerned with federal policy affecting work in
the humanities. The National Humanities Alliance encourages as many
organizations as possible in the broadly defined educational community to
consider signing on to these principles. Endorsements should be sent to
John Hammer <[log in to unmask]>, Executive Director, National Humanities
Alliance, 21 Dupont Circle, 6th floor, Washington, DC 20036; tel:
202/296-4994; fax: 202/872-0884.
The "BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE DIGITAL
ENVIRONMENT" were developed in the Spring by a committee of the National
Humanities Alliance from a draft document "University of California
Copyright Legislation and Scholarly Communication Basic Principles." They
were developed in an effort to build consensus within the educational
community on the uses of copyrighted works in the digital environment.
The PRINCIPLES have been developed to assert the basic beliefs of the
educational community in the need to assure the continuation of the
principle of balance between creators, copyright holders and the users of
intellectual property from the present print environment into the
electronic world. As the introduction to the PRINCIPLES states:
"As they revolutionize the means by which information is recorded, disseminated,
accessed, and stored, digital technologies are eliminating the technical
limits that have supplemented the legal framework of balance between
ownership and public dissemination: Unlimited technological capacity to
disseminate by transmission in ways that can violate the rights of
copyright holders confronts equally unlimited technological capacity to
prevent works from being used in ways contemplated by law. Carried to its
logical extreme, either trend would destroy the balance, with results that
would likely undermine core educational functions as well as radically
transform the information marketplace."
The full text of the PRINCIPLES may be obtained from John Hammer at the
address above or from the NINCH website at:
<http://www-ninch.cni.org/ISSUES/COPYRIGHT/PRINCIPLES/NHA_Complete.html>.
A list of the principles themselves, without introduction or commentary is
appended to this message, together with a list of those organizations
currently endorsing them.
David Green
*******************************************************************
BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
1. Copyright law provisions for digital works should maintain a balance
between the interests of creators and copyright owners and the public that
is equivalent to that embodied in current statute. The existing legal
balance is consonant with the educational ethic of responsible use of
intellectual properties, promotes the free exchange of ideas, and protects
the economic interests of copyright holders.
2. Copyright law should foster the maintenance of a viable economic
framework of relations between owners and users of copyrighted works.
3. Copyright laws should encourage enhanced ease of compliance rather than
increasingly punitive enforcement measures.
4. Copyright law should promote the maintenance of a robust public domain
for intellectual properties as a necessary condition for maintaining our
intellectual and cultural heritage.
5. Facts should be treated as belonging to the public domain as they are
under current law.
6. Copyright law should assure that respect for personal privacy is
incorporated into access and rights management systems.
7. Copyright law should uphold the principle that liability for infringing
activity rests with the infringing party rather than with third parties.
Institutions should accept responsibility for acts undertaken at their
behest by individuals but should not be held liable for the acts of
individuals--whether or not associated with the institution--acting
independently. This principle is an essential underpinning for academic
freedom.
8. Educational institutions should foster a climate of institutional
respect for intellectual property rights by providing appropriate
information to all members of the community and assuring that appropriate
resources are available for clearing rights attached to materials to be
used by the institution, e.g., in support of distance learning.
9. New rights and protections should be created cautiously and only so far
as experience proves necessary to meet the Constitutional provision for a
limited monopoly to promote the "Progress of Science and useful Arts."
10. Copyright enforcement provisions should not hinder research simply
because the products of a line of inquiry might be used in support of
infringing activity.
EMDORSEMENTS
AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES
ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES
COLLEGE ART ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL HUMANITIES ALLIANCE
NATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR A NETWORKED CULTURAL HERITAGE
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH
|