(28 March 2014) The UK’s Intellectual Property Office yesterday issued five draft statutory instruments on exceptions to copyright, following the Government’s 2010 review of intellectual property law, Digital Opportunity.
The British Library welcomes the new exceptions, which will bring significant benefits for library users across the UK, and will support research, innovation and economic growth. The proposed changes, which are due to come into effect on 1 June, include: Making digital preservation of sound and film lawful; Extending ‘fair dealing’ for non-commercial research and private study to allow the copying of sound and film, including the facilitation of copying by a librarian or curator; Allowing the digitisation of the Library’s analogue collections to be used on dedicated computer terminals on the Library’s own premises; Allowing Text and Data Mining for non-commercial research purposes; Allowing the Library and its users to apply UK copyright limitations and exceptions, irrespective of contracts with publishers and suppliers.
Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Library, said: “These balanced and proportionate changes are a valuable step forward for research. They will go a long way toward making UK copyright laws fit for the digital age, and bringing them into line with other developed countries. The British Library commends the Government and the Intellectual Property Office for their determined work to bring these new exceptions before Parliament.
The announcement is here.
Benjamin White, Head of Intellectual Property at the British Library, has produced a detailed guide to the implications of the changes of UK copyright law for libraries and for the general public in Britain. This guide has been made available through the website of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).
