Course talk:ARST573/Archives and Copyright

Hi Cristen,

Your entry looks great so far! With so much to talk about for this topic, I think you did a nice job of choosing which to focus on. Something I have been looking at for my Wiki that might be of interest to you is the WATCH project (http://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/watch/), which is a database for copyright contacts, mostly for authors or other creative arts. I thought it might fit into the Solutions section you are still working on.

I also have a few small editing suggestions:

-You bring up Orphan Works in the section on Public Domain – it might be useful to add a “see below” and/or a link that jumps down to the section on this so the reader knows there is more info on these later in the entry.

-Citation #18 needs to be fixed inline to go after period

-In ICIP section, you may want to put "(ICIP)" after the first mention of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual property, since this is the way it is referred to in the rest of the entry

Katie

Hi Kathryn,

Thank you for the link to the database and the other suggestions you provided. I can't figure out how to create an internal link (Orphan Works --> Orphan Works). Do you know how to do this?

Hi Cristen,

It looks like this is how you do it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Link#What_is_an_.22anchor.22.3F (look at the "Section Linking(anchors)" part).

Good luck if you try it!

Katie

Thank you!! It worked like a charm.

Hi Cristen, I agree with Mariko—your article is looking really great so far! I think it's already present to a certain extent in what you've written, but in the ICIP section I think it would be valuable to add a statement or two really emphasising that the issue goes beyond copyright. I'm thinking of our tour to MOA and how a lot of the images for which the photographer would technically have copyright would be considered very inappropriate for viewing outside of a particular cultural ritual context.

Hi Evan, thank you for your feedback. Yes, I remember how it was pointed out that access restrictions extend beyond copyright or how copyright isn't even the issue in some cases, especially when a record is protected at a point before copyright is taken into consideration. I realize that this is something I need to consider further, as was pointed out, copyright is more of a secondary issue. Any thoughts?

Hi Cristen, On the issue of MOA and ICIP, you might want to see Krisztina Laszlo's (short) article "Ethnographic Archival Records and Cultural Property" in Archivaria 61. I am using it in my wiki as well. It expands on some of the ideas that Krisztina mentioned in our tour at MOA and, I think, addresses some of what Evan is getting at. Hope the source is helpful. Awesome job so far! :)

Thanks Alexandra. This article is just what I was looking for!

Hi Cristen,

Great work!

I have a few small suggestions on ways that you may tie your wiki in to other sources:

I see that you discuss Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property... perhaps you could provide a link to Alexandra's wiki on aboriginal archives?

While I was reading through your wiki I kept on being reminded of the RIP video we watched in ARST 540. I noticed that you do not include it in your wiki. If you are looking for further information, perhaps you could glean something from that video?

Chelsea

Thanks Chelsea. If I go ahead with the section on ICIP I think it is a good idea to tie it back to Alexandra's wiki. I had thought about including the video. Maybe I could include it as media on my page and provide a little bit of context for it. What do you think?

Great idea about using it as media. I was just thinking of using it for more information, but I think you could provide it as media on your page. I know there is an online version of the film that is freely accessible and can be found through Google. Perhaps you could include a link to it and give some context?

Hi Cristen,

Great work so far. The background section in particular is very interesting. I'd be interested in reading more about the Statute of Anne. You might also want to discuss the differences in copyright law in the US and Canada ( I seem to recall a brief discussion of that in LIBR 501).

Hi Kathryn, thank you for the suggestions! Do you think that I should include a section on the background and the Statue of Anne to provide more context? I had considered doing that initially, but I was worried it would take things off course. (I like the Long Title for the Statute of Anne. It pretty much sums things up: "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned.")

I was thinking about focusing more specifically on Canada, in order to give the page more focus. Do you think it would be better to round out the topic by discussing both the U.S. and Canada and possibly drawing some comparisons?

Hi, Cristen

For what it's worth, while I am always interested in the historical background of how we've come to our current place and time, Canadian copyright is a large enough topic for the purposes of this wiki, so I don't think you need to get into the Statue of Anne and historical copyright precedents...my two cents!

Yes, I have to agree. I think the topic is big enough as it is. Although a little bit of background on Can. Copyright Law wouldn't hurt.

Since digitization is often associated with copyright, and preservation is often associated with digitization, perhaps you could add a bit about digitization as an access strategy vs. a preservation strategy? It may add clarification to the other recommendation I made?

Good idea! Thanks. I could subdivide the section on digitization into the 2 sections you suggest and then perhaps have Born Digital as a separate section (if I go with it). Is that what you had in mind?

This might also give you some ideas with regards to the impact of copyright protection on digital materials wit regards to copyright: http://www.straight.com/life/digital-lock-rules-canadian-copyright-bill-go-too-far-critics-say

Thank you for the article. I know Michael Geist also wrote quite a bit on digital locks when it was being debated. I will try to include a bit about them in my Wiki.

Hi, Cristen.

You have done such as great job with your wiki page. Very impressive!

As I mentioned in another post to you, I think you have plenty to talk about with the sections you have already outlined, but I wonder if (perhaps under the fair dealing section) you might consider talking about how archivists interact with users around copyright? For example, I think with the new amendments to the law that just passed, archivists are now required to inform the patron that “the copy is to be used solely for research or private study and that any use of the copy for a purpose other than research or private study may require the authorization of the copyright owner of the work in question,” but it no longer requires that the archivist be satisfied that this is the case. So, before the change, it was (supposed to be) way more up to the archivist to make a judgement call about how the patron was using material...which gets into some uncomfortable areas probably best left for the Archives and Power page.

However, I also know that a tactic for a long time was to sort of turn a blind eye and leave copyright compliance with regard to fair dealing up to the patrons, so there have been a variety of strategies to deal with fair dealing and patron expectations over the years. Anyway, a possibly interesting idea to spend a couple sentences on, if you are so inclined.

Hi Chelsea,

Thanks for your comments. My page is still a bit skeletal at the moment ... more to come. Yes, that's a good suggestion. I spoke to the SFU Archivist about copyright, and he explained what you outline above, that archivists have a legal obligation to inform patrons, but that the onus is on the users to abide by copyright law. As per our discussion over email, I have decided to stick with Canadian law only, as there have been some interesting changes (including the one you mention) to the law that were advocated for by archivists and that affect archival institutions.

Hey Christen! I know you are still going to expand the section but you might want to explain a little more explicitly what fair dealing is at the start of the section.

Catch you later!

Hi Cristen,

I was reading through your wiki and came across a sentence in your "background" section that could be re-arranged. The sentence is:

"Depending on the record itself, the jurisdiction, the type of archives, and the way in which a record is used, copyright law may or may not apply."

I was thinking that perhaps it could be rearranged to say: "Copyright law may or may not apply depending on the record, the jurisdiction, the type of archives, and the way in which a record is used by an individual."

It is pretty much the same, just reworded so that the ending is now at the front of the sentence. Perhaps this flows better?

I agree, it does flow better and it is more obvious that copyright law is the subject of the sentence. Thanks Chelsea.

Hi Cristen! This page is great so far. My first suggestion to you would be to more clearly establish any differences between the copyright challenges of digitizing records and making them available online. You touch a bit on this already but I think it would help to more specifically state them.

Hi Rob, thank you for pointing out that I need to clarify the difference between digitization and making them available online. Do you mean digitizing for preservation vs digitizing for public access online? I also think that if I am going to bring Born Digital records into the conversation, I'll need to include this as a separate section. What do you think?

Hi! Sorry I wasn't more clear. What I meant was the difference in copyright if an archivist were to make a digital copy of a record, but only make that digital copy available in house where access would be tightly controlled, vs. putting that digital copy online where anyone could access it and make copies at will. Does that make sense? I definitely think making Born Digital its own section would be a great addition and it makes sense to make a separate section for it because I do think it is a somewhat separate issue. Good luck!

Yes, that does make sense now. The Canadian Copyright Act was recently updated to allow copying for preservation purposes (with certain conditions) in archives and libraries, which is a good thing. I will have a closer look and do some more research to see if there are any limitations or problems with the new clauses.

Hi Cristen,

Looks great so far, really well rounded information about each subject heading! I'm really looking forward to reading your section on the open data movement, I've heard a lot about it from around SLAIS, and most of it is very positive, I did come across this blog post recently, that although you probably can't use as a resource for this wiki, it's an interesting take on the movement, claiming that it's not really a movement at all, and it's failing more than succeeded! Check it out here: http://whimsley.typepad.com/whimsley/2012/05/why-the-open-data-movement-is-a-joke.html

There are a lot of links in the blog that you may find interesting reads, because we all have a lot of time for leisurely reading right now ;)

Great job though!

-Taryn

Hi Taryn, thank you for your comments and the link. I think the blog post is a good place for me to start to think about the movement in a less idealized way. I have yet to figure out if Open Data is going to be a topic in my page, but I think that copyright is one factor (among many) in the movement that deserves attention.

Hi Cristen,

Great page thus far! Just a little note - I think we were told to include a notice on the top of our wikis stating that they were still in the draft stage. You can do this by inserting {draft} at the top of your wiki source code on your edit page.

Thanks Chelsea. Will do!

Hi Cristen,

I am not sure if you are part of the AAO listserv but the Canadian Council of Archives recently announced two extra copyright webinar dates. March 25th is the additional English date and March 28th is the additional French date. The other two dates on March 26th and 27th are already booked up. In case you are interested, here is the link for more information: http://www.cdncouncilarchives.ca/webinars.html

As well, for a different approach to explaining copyright have a look at this video (it's quite funny): http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2007/03/fairy-use-tale

Good luck!

-Lisa

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for the video. It warms my heart to know that someone put in the time to explain copyright in this manner, and it falls under fair use! Thank you also for the link to the webinar. I did see it mentioned in the listserv, and I really want to sign up. But it costs just over $100 to participate, so I think I will let it go this time.

I'm glad you liked the video! I had a nice laugh while watching it and I hope it may be useful. Too bad the webinar is expensive, but perhaps next time!

Hey Cristen, Your wiki looks great! The length of your sections is perfect. I was just wondering if you were interested in the history of the library/archives exceptions. If you are, here's a resource that touches on it: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_17/sccr_17_2.pdf.

Thank you for the resource, Mariko. I am interested in the exceptions for libraries and archives, but I was focusing mostly on the Canadian Copyright Act. The document you suggested will help to give me a global perspective and understanding of exceptions.