Book on U.S. copyright for libraries, archives, and museums published

[Peter Hirtle <pbh6@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

[please crosspost]

Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines
for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives,
and Museums by Peter B. Hirtle, Emily Hudson, and
Andrew T. Kenyon was published today by Cornell
University Library.  A description of the 260
page book with instructions on how to download a
free PDF copy follows.  Printed copies are also
available for $39.95 from CreateSpace and, in a
few weeks, from Amazon.  Please consider asking
your employer to get a print copy if you can't afford one yourself.

While written with digital issues in mind, there
is much in the book that would be useful to
anyone who wants to understand better copyright
issues in American cultural institutions.

From
http://communications.library.cornell.edu/com/news/PressReleases/manual.cfm:

Cornell University Library Publishes New Digitization Manual

Copyright and Cultural Institutions Will Assist
Cultural Heritage Institutions

ITHACA, N.Y. (Oct. 29, 2009)  How can cultural
heritage institutions legally use the Internet to
improve public access to the rich collections they hold?

"Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines
for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives,
and Museums, a new book by published today by
Cornell University Library, can help
professionals at these institutions answer that question.

Based on a well-received Australian manual
written by Emily Hudson and Andrew T. Kenyon of
the University of Melbourne, the book has been
developed by Cornell University Librarys senior
policy advisor Peter B. Hirtle, along with Hudson
and Kenyon, to conform to American law and practice.

The development of new digital technologies has
led to fundamental changes in the ways that
cultural institutions fulfill their public
missions of access, preservation, research, and
education.  Many institutions are developing
publicly accessible Web sites that allow users to
visit online exhibitions, search collection
databases, access images of collection items, and
in some cases create their own digital content.
Digitization, however, also raises the
possibility of copyright infringement. It is
imperative that staff in libraries, archives, and
museums understand fundamental copyright
principles and how institutional procedures can be affected by the law.

Copyright and Cultural Institutions was written
to assist understanding and compliance with
copyright law. It addresses the basics of
copyright law and the exclusive rights of the
copyright owner, the major exemptions used by
cultural heritage institutions, and stresses the
importance of risk assessment when conducting
any digitization project. Case studies on
digitizing oral histories and student work are also included.

Hirtle is the former director of the Cornell
Institute for Digital Collections, and the book
evolved from his recognition of the need for such
a guide when he led museum and library
digitization projects. After reading Hudson and
Kenyons Australian guidelines, he realized that
an American edition would be invaluable to anyone
contemplating a digital edition.

Anne R. Kenney, the Carl A. Kroch University
Librarian at Cornell University, noted: The
Library has a long tradition of making available
to other professionals the products of its
research and expertise. I am delighted that this
new volume can join the ranks with award-winning
library publications on digitization and preservation.

As an experiment in open-access publishing, the
Library has made the work available in two
formats. Print copies of the work are available
from CreateSpace, an Amazon subsidiary. In
addition, the entire text is available as a free
download through eCommons, Cornell Universitys
institutional repository, and from SSRN.com,
which already distributes the Australian guidelines.

Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines
for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives,
and Museums by Peter B. Hirtle, Emily Hudson, and
Andrew T. Kenyon.  Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Library, 2009. ISBN:
<http://cornell.worldcat.org/search?q=+ti%3A+au%3A+kw%3A0935995102&qt=advance
d>978-0-935995-10-7.
Price: $39.95. Available for purchase at
<https://www.createspace.com/3405063>https://www.createspace.com/3405063,
and for free download at:
<<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1495365>http://papers.ss
rn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1495365>
and <<http://hdl.handle.net/1813/14142>http://hdl.handle.net/1813/14142>.

About Cornell University Library

Cornell University is an Ivy League institution
and New York's land-grant university. Among the
top ten academic research libraries in the
country, Cornell University Library reflects the
university's distinctive mix of eminent
scholarship and democratic ideals. The Library
offers cutting-edge programs and facilities, a
full spectrum of services, extensive collections
that represent the depth and breadth of the
university, and a deep network of digital
resources. Its impact reaches beyond campus
boundaries with initiatives that extend the land
grant mission to a global focus. To learn more,
visit <http://library.cornell.edu>library.cornell.edu.


Best,
Peter