Dickson (2010)
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Source Details
Dickson (2010) | |
Title: | Due diligence, futile effort: Copyright and the digitization of the Thomas E. Watson papers. |
Author(s): | Dickson M. |
Year: | 2010 |
Citation: | Dickson, M., 2010. Due diligence, futile effort: Copyright and the digitization of the Thomas E. Watson papers. The American Archivist, 73(2), pp.626-636. |
Link(s): | Definitive |
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Linked by: | Stobo, Patterson, Erickson and Deazley (2018) |
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Cross Country Study?: | No |
Comparative Study?: | No |
Literature review?: | No |
Government or policy study?: | No |
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Abstract
As archives and libraries digitize and make their collections available online, they are faced with the challenge of meeting growing patron expectations in the online environment while still adhering to copyright statutes. This article reports on a case study investigating the copy right status of materials from a recent effort to make the Thomas E. Watson Papers, a manuscript collection housed at the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, accessible online. The article also explores fair use as a possible approach for digital publication of archival collections containing materials protected by copyright.
Main Results of the Study
At the completion of our copyright study, the authors took the results of our research to the legal counsel for UNC University Libraries and explained that they wanted to discontinue any further copyright investigation for the rest of the materials in the Thomas E. Watson Papers. The level of risk they were undertaking was determined to be an acceptable one, given the liberal take-down policy wherein challenged items may be removed from the website quickly and easily. They were given the go-ahead to make the digital collection available online under the auspices of fair use, and did so in the fall of 2009. To date, the Thomas E. Watson Papers Digital Collection has received no contact, much less challenge, from potential copyright holders.
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
The authors, extrapolating from their experience with the Watson correspondence, believe that attempting to explore copyright status in depth and to obtain permission to digitize unpublished archival materials that are under copyright would stymie an effort on the scale anticipated in digitizing the entire Southern Historical Collection. Moreover, such an attempt would be needlessly expensive and futile. If it is hoped to make large-scale digitization an integral part of processing archival materials, it is untenable for the writers to consider undertaking this type of research to determine and obtain copyright — a new definition of due diligence for this type of copyright exploration is required.