Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
•
to preserve only material that is in Public Domain (e.g. where Copyright is
expired or the author has released the work into Public Domain);
•
to carry out preservation in accordance with the conditions defined by the Law
(e.g. in some countries there are Copyright Exceptions which grant to some kind
of institutions the permissions to perform digital preservation)
•
to obtain from the right holders, by means of a license, the permissions to carry
out the necessary preservation activities.
Many countries have defined exceptions in their Copyright Laws to facilitate
libraries, archives and other institutions to carry out digital preservation. However,
until a legal reform is carried out, it is good practice to get the required authoriza-
tion from the right holders through rights transfer contracts or licenses, and not to
rely solely on the existing jurisdiction to ensure a comprehensive preservation of
copyrighted materials.
10.6.2 Preserving Limitations and Rights over Time
At some time in the short- or long-term, somebody will desire or need to access one
of the preserved archive holdings. Protection of Minors and Privacy Laws regulate
the use of particular types of data. However, the most complex limitations come
from Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs): Copyright, Related Rights and Industrial
Property Rights, such as Trademarks, Industrial Design and Patents.
Dealing with IPR-protected material poses risks, because it could conflict with
the normal exploitation of the work or prejudice the legitimate interests of the rights
holders. Therefore, the preservation institution should reduce the risk taken by future
consumers, and try to arrange things so that those consumers are able lawfully to
exploit the materials.
We will see that it is not enough just to identify and store the details on who holds
some Copyright and the licenses that are attached to the content; it is necessary to
preserve also other kinds of information, to monitor the changes in the legislation
and to be continuously updated about the ownership of rights. If the consumer was
authorized to exploit a piece of content in the way (s)he intends, (s)he should have
the ability to show the appropriate authorization.
Since the revision of the OAIS Reference Model a specific section of the
Preservation Description Information (PDI) has been defined to address authoriza-
tion in the long-term, namely Access Rights. This information is specified in part by
the right holders within the Submission Agreement. For example, it could contain
the license to carry out preservation activities, licenses offered to interested con-
sumers and the right holders' requirements about rights enforcement measures. But
this PDI section could even include the special authorizations that are granted by
the Law. In short, OAIS Access Rights include everything related to the terms and
conditions for preservation, distribution and usage of the Content Information.
There are two kinds of access rights to be considered. On the one hand there are
the exclusive ownership rights that are typically held by the owners of the works,
