Legal constraints on activities
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
IPR is the family name for a range of legal protections for things created as a result of human innovation, skill, creativity and endeavour.
It is unlikely that a single bibliographic record will attract any IPR because it displays neither the originality required for copyright protection nor the substantial investment required for database right. Where bibliographic records are “expressively” written or enriched, such as an abstracts written by a cataloguer, these might, individually, attract copyright protection in single entries. When bibliographic records are associated with other text or other media rich content, such as User Generated Content including reviews, commentaries and possibly specific tags, the enhanced records are likely to be afforded copyright protection in the whole, as well as in the individual records.
Obtaining, verifying, and presenting a set of bibliographic records can attract database rights if there has been substantial investment (which could include human, financial or technical resources). This investment could be in a small number of records, but as long as this investment can be clearly demonstrated it is likely to attract database rights. Examples of databases which might attract the database right so long as there is substantial investment include:
- bibliographic records from sets of information;
- recitation of facts (eg the book title fed from the publisher);
- classifications of numbers and/or comprise of ‘Key Phrases’ generated using computer algorithms.
Where there has been substantial investment in the selection and or presentation of the content of the set of bibliographic records may attract copyright as well as database right if it was created after 27 March 1996. A database might have copyright protection in its structure if, by reason of the selection or arrangement of its contents, the database constitutes the author's own intellectual creation. Copyright protection of individual records which have been "expressively" written or enriched may subsist in the structure of the database. If copyright subsists in the structure of the database, then moral rights may also be relevant.
Further information about practical steps in dealing with databases is provided by the Out-Law website.
Note: Receiving, supplying and using enhanced records may also attract other legal issues, such as Data Protection, Accessibility, Freedom of Information, Breach of Confidence, and others, all of which may need to be identified and addressed.
Contract law
Contracts are the means by which permissions can be granted to libraries to use bibliographic records supplied by third parties. They are also the mechanism through which libraries supply bibliographic records to third parties. Libraries must be aware of, and read the detail of any contract they intend to enter into to ensure that they are in a position to negotiate terms favourable to them and, in the final analysis, comply with any agreed terms.
The relationship between IPR and contract law
Under UK law, it is possible that the provisions of a contract can over-ride copyright and in particular the exceptions to copyright (although overriding the exceptions to the database right is more difficult). This means that libraries could agree by contract to limit their fair dealing and library privileges to be found in the law, and in particular in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended). Agreeing to limit fair dealing may restrict current and future activities.
It is possible to ‘contract out’ of fair dealing and library privileges. Through understanding key licensing principles, and through applying the principles and related model contractual terms, libraries can optimise the benefit flowing from the use, supply and making available of their bibliographic records and using the records belonging to third parties in their collections.
Further information about the relationship between copyright law and contract law can be found here.
A pdf of this information can be downloaded here.