British Library concerned about impact of DRMs

Information obtained from http://www.justgo.org/news_story.asp?id=847
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The British Library's Chief Executive this week warned of some of the unintended consequences of the widespread adoption of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems and urged policymakers to balance the rights of content creators with the need to maintain access in the public good.

Speaking at the launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) report into Digital Rights Management, Lynne Brindley welcomed current moves to modernise the regulatory framework for Intellectual Property (IP) – particularly the Gowers Review, to which the British Library has made a major submission – but also warned that DRMs are already having an impact on the traditional exceptions to copyright law that have existed for libraries.

"We at the British Library use DRMs to manage our collections and we recognise they can be a valuable tool," said Lynne Brindley.

"However, while protecting rights holders against infringement they can prevent copying of material for fair dealing purposes. Digital material generally comes with a contract, and these contracts are nearly always more restrictive than existing copyright law and frequently prevent copying, archiving and access by the visually impaired."

Taking a small sample of 30 licences offered to the Library from publishers, only two were as generous in terms of access as statutory fair dealing. Other than these only two allowed archiving of the material and not one permitted copying of the whole work by the visually impaired.

"We need clarification that contracts cannot supersede statutory fair dealing rights,” she added. “We are sliding into this situation already which, in my view, is unacceptable."

The UK national library also suggests that IP law should change to clarify that fair dealing rights refer to digital as well as print items, that copying is essential for digital preservation purposes and that the preservation needs of sound recordings from the past – as well as the future – also need to be recognised.

The APIG report – which can be viewed at: www.apig.org.uk/current-activities/apig-inquiry-into-digital-rights-management.html – was launched on Monday alongside an Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) paper on IP and digital preservation, to an audience of IP specialists, technology experts, industry players and journalists at the British Library's conference centre at St Pancras. The IPPR paper, entitled ‘Preservation, access and intellectual property rights challenges for libraries in the digital environment', can be viewed at: www.ippr.org.uk/publicationsandreports/

The APIG enquiry was launched last November and heard evidence from representatives of the music industry, publishers, technology experts, libraries and disability groups about the implications of the increasing use of DRMs to restrict the use of digital content such as e-books, e-journals, digital music files and software packages.

Along with recommendations for clearer labelling and separate investigations into the disability access and single market issues surrounding use of DRMs, the APIG report also recommends that the British Library should chair a ‘UK stakeholders group' to advise the government on IP issues and ensure that a wide range of perspectives are represented in a debate that is often as polarised as it is complex.

Lynne Brindley concluded: "A healthy creative economy needs an IP framework which rewards creativity and innovation while being balanced with protecting the legitimate public interest of supporting an informed citizenry and a healthy research base for the long-term economic and social good of the country. Digital developments mean that such a framework cannot simply be national. It has to be developed in an international context and within a global economy.

"The British Library seeks to support government to ensure that a balanced legislative and regulatory framework is developed and are particularly keen to be involved in developing an appropriate public interest test to guide us all in assessing future developments."