----------------------------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: 7/2/97 7:36 PM
RE: PCAH Meeting on Intellectual Property Issues
Sender: [log in to unmask]
Received: from a.cni.org (A.CNI.ORG [192.100.21.1])
by dub-img-10.compuserve.com (8.8.6/8.8.6/2.0) with SMTP id TAA06205
for <[log in to unmask]>; Wed, 2 Jul 1997 19:36:35 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from localhost by a.cni.org id <[log in to unmask]>; Wed, 2 Jul 1997 16
Received: from ninch.cni.org by a.cni.org id <[log in to unmask]>; Wed, 2 Jul 199
Message-Id: <v02130503afe06875b17c@[192.100.21.23]>
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 16:34:34 -0400
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Sender: [log in to unmask]
Precedence: bulk
From: [log in to unmask] (David Green)
To: Multiple recipients of list <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: PCAH Meeting on Intellectual Property Issues
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
X-Sender: [log in to unmask] (Unverified)
X-Listprocessor-Version: 7.2 -- ListProcessor by CREN
Following is my fast and informal report on yesterday's intellectual
property meeting hosted by the President's Committee. Representatives of
several NINCH members were at the meeting and I would welcome their
amendations or comments.
The full, official report should be out later this month and I will forward
it to all members.
David Green
"VISIONARY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES MEETING"
Seventeen invited participants joined in a discussion hosted by The
President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities on what the
principal intellectual property issues are for the arts and humanities
community in the digital era, what our goals in this area should be and
what we as a community can do to work towards those goals. The
organizers allowed a very free-wheeling discussion of issues
surrounding copyright and intellectual property, followed by a brief
sketch of what some next steps might be. Although a report from PCAH
will be forthcoming later this month, the following is my informal take
on the meeting. Although there was much interesting discussion about
the enterprise of networking cultural resources, I would say that the
pertinent conversations grouped together under two headings: an
economics discussion about value (that interestingly intersected with a
discussion about values) and one on how we make the case for our
enterprise and its i.p. components.
**Value and Values: the economic base**
Although copyright and intellectual property discussions occur at the
intersection of economic, social, legal and political forces, it is, arguably,
the economic forces that are at the root of copyright discussions. That is,
though we all know that this issue goes far beyond piracy concerns and
there are social, moral, legal and political arguments to be made, much
of the debates center on economic issues.
Following from this, it is important to see the nonprofit cultural
community as one of creators, owners and users. Institutions and,
increasingly, individuals can and will increasingly be all three of these
actors, sometimes simultaneously, in the copyright drama. So although,
as CONFU demonstrated, we are often pitted against the commercial
holders of intellectual property, the scenario is more complicated than
this. It was also noted that many commercial enterprises were aware of
the great value of *low* copyright protection or of the commercial value
of limitations to copyright protections through secondary markets and
other mechanisms.
The community is also only slowly realizing the value of its own IP
assets and this realization will only grow. One participant even
recommended practicing an "IP accounting" mentality. A constant
reminder throughout the meeting from Marc Pachter was that the value
of our assets doesn't mostly reside in the material itself but in the
curated value added through documentation and contextualization of
work. However, this contribution and discussion of strategies as to how
and what to digitize is often missing from discussion of the project.
Although this community is concerned with "cost recovery" at the least
and with financing operations at best, rather than with making money,
the economics of our enterprise is becoming both more complicated and
ever more transparent. That is to say, who is paying for what is becoming
less hidden from view. Because its engagement with intellectual
property has not been about "making money" its stance or view of its
own participation in intellectual property activity has been of a "moral"
nature. It sees the principal values of engaging in this activity as those of
a civil society. This may develop into a greater interest in engaging the
"moral rights" issues that are more prevalent in Canada and Europe.
Deanna Marcum remarked that although paradigms of use and access to
cultural material are changing as a result of digital networking,
paradigms of resource allocation had not and we clearly need to work on
this at an institutional and community level.
**Making the Case: Why is this important?**
Melissa Levine spoke on the vital importance of making the case to the
public of why the enterprise of networking cultural heritage is worth
while. One problem is that the existence of libraries and museums and
the existence of fair use and first sale are very much taken for granted.
Some suggested the value of a demonstration of their value by
removing or closing down for demonstration purposes. James Boyle
remarked that museums and libraries were particularly able to
demonstrate the power of access that they provide.
There was some consideration of the way that the community connected
with the commercial world in networking cultural resources. We
needed to demonstrate that this community was working with
"economically viable cultural product"--something aside from the
absolute valuation of culture for its own good. Although some would
demur on this, others saw the importance of stressing an interchange
and "interoperability" between culture and commerce. Some
encouraged further work with engaging in the process Ira Magaziner was
spearheading at the White House with the "Framework for Global
Electronic Commerce." [See my Members Bulletin on this from January
<http://www-
ninch.cni.org/ADMIN/BULLETINS/1997/Jan_21_Bulletin.html> (this
is in the private section of the Web page; the ID is bronwyn; the
password is brillig) or go directly to the Framework, revised July 1, at
<http://www.iitf.nist.gov/eleccomm/ecomm.htm>
Others felt that there may need to be separate but related copyright
regimes for the scientific, cultural, commercial sectors.
**Action Agenda:**
Here there were a mixture of broad and specific recommendations,
summarized below.
1. Renew our commitment to educate our own communities and the
public about current copyright issues and the values of our community.
2. Move beyond "lament" in our public pronouncements: work together
to build a model of what we need.
3. Re-evaluate the "Framework for Global Electronic Commerce" and
whether there are any additional comments, statements or a major new
component that should be added. How does culture intersect with this
"Framework"?
4. Build a set of talking points from this meeting to open up discussion
on-line with an expanded group of participants.
5. Work on developing a set of basic intellectual principles with which
our broad community can agree. It was decided that we should start with
the NHA Principles (available on the NINCH site at <http://www-
ninch.cni.org/ISSUES/COPYRIGHT/PRINCIPLES/NHA_Complete.html> ) which will
be circulated for discussion.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LIST OF ATTENDEES
Prue Adler, Association of research Libraries
Mamie Bittner, Institute of Museum and Library Services
Andrew Blau, Benton Foundation
James Boyle, American University
Donna Demac, Freedom Forum
Don Druker, TIIAP
Harriet Mayor Fulbright, PCAH
David Green, NINCH
Mary Levering, US Copyright Office
Melissa Levine, Library of Congress
Deanna Marcum, Council on Library and Information Resources
Hope O'Keefe, NEA
Marc Pachter, Smithsonian
Joyce Ray, National Archives
Malcolm Richardson, PCAH
Jeff Rothenberg, PCAH
Michael Shapiro, NEH
Barry Szczesny, American Association of Museums
Arthur Tsuchiya, NEA
Pat Williams, American Association of Museums
|
