Copyright Issues Relevant to the Creation of a Digital Archive: A Preliminary Assessment

This report is concerned with the collection and preservation of digital archives and focuses on the copyright issues that come into question in creating a non‐profit digital archive. It discusses the balance that needs to be attained between the copyright issues and laws and the users of information. The focus of the report is on issues of how such a balance can occur through creating a non‐profit digital archive. It also lists the problems of copyright law when developing the archive. The document was commissioned and sponsored by the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program at the Library of Congress.

The report is 17 pages in length and is arranged in a concise manner. It flows quickly from one issue to the next, covering specifically the following topics: copyright rights, exceptions, requirements, and ownership. There is also a small but relevant section on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and how this law effects electronic archiving. The document has an International Issues section that focuses on lawsuits that can happen abroad and international copyright infringement. The author summarizes her conclusions and says that there needs to be a more detailed assessment, since there is no real clear direction under the current law to propose a non‐profit digital archive. There needs to be more research on how the archive would operate and what the copyright implications could be.

The report is recommended to any library interested in the issues of digital archiving, copyright issues and government documents collections. Any university or research library would also find this to be an excellent addition to a library and information science collection. The report also proposes ideas for further research that would definitely be of interest to librarians doing research in this topic.