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  • © 2019

A Copyright Gambit

On the Need for Exclusive Rights in Digitised Versions of Public Domain Textual Materials in Europe

Authors:

  • Includes data from an empirical survey of digitization projects undertaken by fourteen memory institutions in five European Union jurisdictions

  • Provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the extent to which the digitized versions of rare documents qualify for copyright protection within the copyright law frameworks of the United Kingdom, Germany and France

  • Includes model provisions for the enactment of a European Union Regulation that would introduce a related right to the digitized versions of rare documents that record public domain textual content

Part of the book series: Munich Studies on Innovation and Competition (MSIC, volume 11)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. Introduction

    • Sunimal Mendis
    Pages 1-27
  3. Objectives and Methodology

    • Sunimal Mendis
    Pages 29-37
  4. Why Are Related Rights the Best Mechanism?

    • Sunimal Mendis
    Pages 195-223
  5. The Proposed Model

    • Sunimal Mendis
    Pages 225-268
  6. Conclusion

    • Sunimal Mendis
    Pages 269-272
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 273-294

About this book

European memory institutions are repositories of a wealth of rare documents that record public domain content. These documents are often stored in ‘dark-archives’ to which members of the public are granted limited access, resulting in the public domain content recorded therein being relegated to a form of ‘forgotten-knowledge’. Digitisation offers a means by which such public domain content can be made speedily and easily accessible to users around the world. For this reason, it has been hailed as the harbinger of a new ‘digital renaissance’. 


This book examines the topical issue of the need to preserve exclusivity over digitised versions of rare documents recording public domain content. Based on data gathered through an empirical survey of digitisation projects undertaken by fourteen memory institutions in five European Union Member States, it argues for the introduction of exclusive rights in digitised versions of rare documents recording public domain textual content as a means of incentivising private-sector investment in the digitisation process. It concludes by presenting a detailed proposal for a European Union Regulation that would grant memory institutions a limited-term related right in digitised versions of rare documents held in their collections subject to stringent exceptions and limitations that are designed to safeguard user interests.   


Keywords

  • Copyright
  • Related rights
  • Exclusivity
  • Public domain
  • Digitization
  • Memory institutions
  • Rare documents
  • Copyfraud
  • Cultural heritage
  • Public sector information
  • PSI

Authors and Affiliations

  • Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany

    Sunimal Mendis

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: A Copyright Gambit

  • Book Subtitle: On the Need for Exclusive Rights in Digitised Versions of Public Domain Textual Materials in Europe

  • Authors: Sunimal Mendis

  • Series Title: Munich Studies on Innovation and Competition

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-59454-4

  • Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg

  • eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-662-59453-7Published: 17 July 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-662-59456-8Published: 15 August 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-662-59454-4Published: 05 July 2019

  • Series ISSN: 2199-7462

  • Series E-ISSN: 2199-7470

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 294

  • Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: IT Law, Media Law, Intellectual Property, European Law

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access