It's A-L-I-V-E! (Google Print)

Yes, like everyone is reporting, Google Print beta is available for us to use. The site says, "Search the full text of books (and discover new ones)." Go ahead -- try it out. My first search was on the word "copyright." For the book, The Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Patient Workbook, the word copyright appears on every page. Does this mean that I could view (and capture) every copyrighted page in the book! No, some pages (determined by what I don't know) are restricted because the book is still under copyright, but lots aren't.

Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata

From the press release:

OCLC and RLG are pleased to announce the release of a comprehensive guide to core metadata for supporting the long-term preservation of digital materials. Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata: Final Report of the PREMIS Working Group...

The data dictionary is the final product of the PREMIS (Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies) working group. Jointly sponsored by OCLC and RLG, PREMIS is an international set of more than 30 experts from libraries, museums, archives, government, and the private sector. The working group has been chaired by Priscilla Caplan, assistant director for digital library services at the Florida Center for Library Automation, and Rebecca Guenther, senior networking and standards specialist at the Library of Congress. Brian Lavoie, OCLC senior research scientist, and Robin Dale, RLG program officer, have served as liaisons to the group.

Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata and related materials can be viewed and downloaded at the Working Group's web site either as separate sections or as one 237 page report.

Kenneth D. Crews Wins American Library Association's L. Ray Patterson Award

Diglet reported on Wednesday that Kenny Crews had become the first recipient of the "L. Ray Patterson Award: In Support of Users' Rights" given by the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) Copyright Advisory Committee. ALA's press release can be read here.

I've had the pleasure years ago of attending a copyright workshop that Kenny Crews did. It was entertaining and informative. (He is actually a former entertainment lawyer, so he must have picked up some techniques from his clients.) I have never forgotten how he answered questions from the audience by going back to the law. It instilled in me that -- with copyright -- you cannot make assumptions. You should indeed go back through the four factors of Fair Use and to the law to help ensure that the answer you come up with is correct.

And when people talk about bringing in "a name" to do a copyright workshop, he is the first person I mention. Yes, he's that good.

Kenny, congratulations! This is well deserved.

Event: Pirates, Thieves and Innocents: Perceptions of Copyright Infringement in the Digital Age

From the digital-copyright discussion list.

* * * * *

Announcing Open Registration for the Live Webcast

Pirates, Thieves and Innocents: Perceptions of Copyright Infringement in the Digital Age
Online June 16-17, 2005

A symposium sponsored by The Center for Intellectual Property http://www.umuc.edu/cip/symposium

Due to high demand, registration for the face-to-face symposium is now closed. However, we are still committed to making the programming available. Please join us online for the symposium webcast!

Visit http://www.umuc.edu/cip/symposium/webcast.html for details on how you can participate remotely in this event.

Visit https://nighthawk.umuc.edu/CIPReg.nsf/Application?OpenForm to register now.

Jack Boeve
University of Maryland University College Center for Intellectual Property
240-582-2965
jboeve@umuc.edu

Copyright

Yesterday I did a copyright discussion for members of the Rochester Regional Library Council. The idea was to talk a bit about copyright and Fair Use, then do some problem solving. All of the attendees were knowledgeable about copyright, but -- indeed -- is was the application of the law that "hung" them up. The questions/problems that face us are sometimes not straightforward. Add to that users who think they know best, and we all feel like burying our heads in the sand. However, yesterday we did not bury our heads; we addressed the questions head on.

One of the handouts was Quick List of Resources. Feel free to download the handout and investigate the resources listed. One attendee mentioned Copyright Bay which is also worth checking out.

I ended the session by asking what they each would do when they got back to the office. One noted that she was going to suggest sending every faculty member at her college the library's pamphlet on copyright and Fair Use. If done, that will be a good start to having an informed faculty -- one that better understands that boundaries of Fair Use. It seems like getting our teachers (at all educational levels) more knowledgeable in copyright law, AND more willing to seek proper permissions when needed, will be a tremendous step forward. They can then educate their students on how to respectfully use (or refer to) the creative works of another.

One of the topics discussed was around the word "intent." When the author created that work, what was the person's intent? Was the intent that it be shared? How did the author make his/her intent known? Intent leads us into murky waters. We quickly move from the intent of the author to the intent of the user, yet it is the author's point of view that must prevail. The only way we know an author's intent is if the person states it. As users of information, we can't assume intent -- we must know for sure. The Creative Commons help us with that.

None of the participants had heard of the Creative Commons licenses, yet many saw an area in their institution that could use it. Some of us -- like me -- have good intentions of adopting it, but haven't yet. However, these licenses would clear up those Fair Use assumptions and allow us to more readily share information. My stated task at the end of the session was to create a Creative Commons license for some of the materials I produce. Now I just need to do it!