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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The 1709 Blog: The London Manifesto: time for reform?

Wednesday, 1 April 2015


The London Manifesto: time for reform?


"“Fair copyright for all across Europe” rallying call from libraries,
archives and charities" is the title of a media release that went live
the moment this blogpost did, at one minute past midnight on 1 April.
Issued by the Chartered Institute of Library & Information
Professionals (CILIP), it reads as follows:



In a bid for fair copyright laws that will benefit citizens and
researchers across Europe organisations including the Wellcome Trust,
the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, the
Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals, Royal
Museums Greenwich and the Open Rights Group have called for much needed
reforms.




The London Manifesto calls for fair copyright for libraries and archives
across Europe. The manifesto outlines needed reforms that will better
support research, innovation and growth and will help create a digital
single market. It focuses on the important role of libraries and
archives.




The reforms would bolster the rights of disabled people by supporting
equal access to knowledge. They would mean that libraries can acquire
and lend commercially available digital materials and, with archives,
can continue to underpin knowledgeable societies in the digital age. The
reforms would allow libraries and archives to better support research
through modern text and data mining techniques. They would also create a
more manageable system of harmonised copyright laws across EU member
states.




Non standardised copyright laws across Europe are failing to support the
vision of a digital single market because they currently prevent fair
access and use of digital content. This means that researchers and
citizens in one country can be subject to a completely different
copyright regime than in another country. For example this creates
significant problems for researchers who are working collaboratively
across Europe. ... .”



Organisations will be able to show their support for fair copyright
across Europe by signing in support of the London Manifesto at www.cilip.org.uk/londonmanifesto


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