Search
Book orgs join to provide for orphans

Book orgs join to provide for orphans

A Joint Steering Group formed by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and the International Publishers’ Association (IPA) has composed a five-point plan to guide the publishing industry on the use of orphan works. A consistent sticking-point in the information trade, orphan works are in-copyright texts with hard-to-trace copyright owners, posing difficulties for those who want to re-use the material in the public interest and yet avoid the stigma of copyright infringement. The points declare that:

  • A reasonably diligent search should be undertaken to find the copyright owner
  • The user of an orphan work must provide a clear and adequate attribution to the copyright owner
  • If the copyright owner reappears, the owner should be reasonably remunerated or appropriate restitution should be made
  • If injunctive relief is available against the use of a previously orphaned work, the injunctive relief should take into account the creative efforts and investment made in good faith by the user of the work
  • The use of orphan works is non-exclusive
IFLA’s Claudia Lux – co-chair of the Steering Group – said: ‘Orphan works are bad news for all concerned: for information users, librariens, publishers and authors. Creativity and progress are stifled when so many works are consigned to a legal limbo because their copyright owners cannot be traced.

‘The principles which IFLA has agreed with the IPA are an important step forward because they are set out clearly what bona fide users of orphan works must do to avoid being held liable for copyright infringement, and what should be done if a missing copyright owner is found after the work has been used. If applied, the principles would ensure that the rights of copyright owners are respected without exposing users of orphan works to an intimidating level of risk’

IPA’s Herman Spruijt commented: ‘Copyright is crucially important to publishers. We must ensure that it supports access to knowledge and takes into account the interests of all those contributing to the knowledge economy, including publishers.

‘As part of their business publishers seek authorisation to use previously published works, including orphan works. Publishers will therefore benefit from a pragmatic, common sense approach that balances the legitimate interests of all sides. Our principles will help to achieve this.’

Add to RSS: add to rss

Add this page to:

User Comments

Post a comment