Le rapport d'une douzaine de pages sur les aspects juridiques de la conservation numérique, l'accès aux oeuvres orphelines (dont on ne retrouve plus les ayant-droits) et aux oeuvres épuisées d'un groupe de travail mis en place à la demande de la Commission européenne vient d'être mis en ligne. Le groupe de travail comprenait des représentants des éditeurs, des auteurs, des bibliothèques et des musées et ceci aussi bien pour l'écrit que pour l'audiovisuel. Cet œcuménisme en fait déjà un document d'exception. Le rapport comprend aussi dans une annexe un modèle de contrat pour l'accès aux copies numériques de livres épuisés.

i2010: Digital Libraries High Level Expert Group – Copyright Subgroup, Report on Digital Preservation, Orphan Works, and Out-of-Print Works. Selected Implementation Issues, 18 av 2007, Rapport, Annexe

Extraits :

Ordre du jour du groupe :

What are the key IPR challenges? What different actions and arrangements could be undertaken jointly by stakeholders to reduce tensions surrounding copyrights? Is there a need to harmonise at Community level exceptions and limitations that relate to libraries, archives, museums? What are possible ways for facilitating the clearance of rights for cultural institutions?

(..)

For rightholders the governing principles are:

  • Respect for copyright and related rights, including moral rights of creators and performers of copyrighted works;
  • Digitisation and use within the premises of libraries should take place with rightholders’ consent or be based on statutory exception;
  • Online availability should take place with rightholders’ consent;
  • Rightholders’ consent means in principle rights clearance, which should be based on individual or collective licensing or a combination thereof.

For libraries, archives and museums the governing principles are:

  • for these institutions it is important to have legal certainty in their activities;
  • Access means either within the premises of libraries, archives and museums or online availability;
  • For born-digital works or works digitised by rightholders this means getting permissions for access to works;
  • For analogue works this means getting permissions for large scale digitisation and access;
  • Legal certainty presupposes a solution for so-called orphan works: unknown or non locatable rightholders and their works.

(..)

The Copyright Subgroup has aimed to identify and work out practical solutions to specific needs and expectations indicated by libraries that would assist them in satisfying their user requirements for adequate access to information. All stakeholder representatives concerned agreed that this should be done in a way that does not interfere with the copyright holders’ interest in commercialising their works. Following these requirements and current needs specified by the libraries, the model licence is at present limited to allowing the library to digitise and provide access to out-of-print works to users through closed networks. It is not limited in respect of territory, but the library may not provide access through open networks.