Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
There is a need for a formal, transparent, accountable partnership
managed through a formal governance structure which does not
establish exclusive agreements that are not time limited. The vision,
mission and strategic objectives of all partners and the public benefits
to be achieved through the project must be clearly laid out. Finally, the
sustainability of the business model for the long term is very important.
Legal reform in Europe on the problem of orphan works will prove
to be very difficult. Each member state will have to implement the new
provisions, and heavy lobbying will probably not lead to a desirable
situation.
Co-operation between publishers, libraries and authors
In the larger area of scholarly communication, stakeholders working
together need to guarantee the broadest availability of scholarly output.
Publishers, libraries and authors should value the contributions of each
stakeholder and regard scholarly communication as part of the
infrastructure of a global edifice of scholarship. All stakeholders need to
aim towards forward thinking. Because of the long debates, the
positions of the diverse parties involved in the copyright arrangement
have moved slightly. Any forward movement cannot be expected from
legal reform, because the position between libraries, authors and
publishers is regulated mainly by contract law and not by copyright or
intellectual property rights. With regard to ownership of content, the
positions of universities and authors are laid out in law, but the way in
which universities have interpreted the provisions has clouded, rather
than clarified, subsequent positions. It seems that a status quo has been
reached with regard to the ownership of digital content. Further
clarification between the stakeholders about the bundle of rights
involved in copyright may be possible by formulating policies and
licences that are acceptable to all parties involved. The rights to
preserve the material and to access this preserved material may be a new
point for discussion, as institutions of higher education and libraries are
addressing this issue more and more. Probably, publishing agreements
will develop along the route of path-dependence: the set of decisions
one faces for any given circumstance is limited by the decisions one has
made in the past, even though past circumstances may no longer be
relevant (Monotti and Ricketson, 2003).
