Conference Programme

Programme - click here.

The one-day Executive Briefing on 18 May was chaired by Paul Pedley.

Graham Cornish set the scene by outlining the ways in which current copyright law creates obstacles to the use of content in a digital form. Jill Johnstone then look at copyright from the perspective of the consumer.

After the coffee break Ben White spoke about digital preservation and looked at restrictions that exist in the digital environment on format shifting of an original work for the purposes of preservation. He focused on the urgency of this issue for preserving our cultural heritage.

Paul Pedley then spoke about the problem of orphan works, where then copyright owner is either unknown and/or cannot be located. As a large percentage of older materials are orphan works, companies and individuals are unable to use this intellectual capital, unless they are willing to take the potential risk of being held liable for copyright infringement.

Fit for the digital age?

After lunch, Barbara Stratton spoke about the Gowers review on intellectual property. This asked whether the UK's intellectual property regime is fit for the digital age. Barbara considered the steps required to implement the report's recommendations, and the potential impact this could have on the library sector.

Finally solutions from collective licensing societies who represented the interests of rightsowners were considered. The NLA's Martin Stevenson spoke about the eClips service, while the CLA's Des Brennan outlined the Copyright Licensing Agency's plans for a comprehensive digital licence. Both offer ways in which rightsowners and their representatives can make it easier for people to use digital information whilst at the same time respecting copyright law.