March 24, 1997
This version of the NHA Principles for Managing Intellectual Property is presented with minimal commentary. To access the commentary click on "Context" or the highlighted number of an individual principle.
The following document was prepared by the Committee on Libraries and Intellectual Property of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA) in an effort to build consensus within the educational community on the uses of copyrighted works in the digital environment. While the Committee members represent primarily institutions within higher education, the Committee believes that the principles presented here apply to a broadly defined educational community encompassing many other institutions and individuals, including primary and secondary schools, independent research laboratories, faculty and students, and independent scholars. Participants in the NHA Committee's discussions are listed at the end of the document.
The Committee would like to thank the University of California System for giving us permission to use as the foundation of our work their excellent draft document, "University of California Copyright Legislation and Scholarly Communication Basic Principles."
The educational community approaches pending changes in copyright and neighboring intellectual property law (e.g., Sui Generis Database Protection Act) with the overriding conviction that it is in the interest of the evolving U.S. information society that the legal environment foster rather than disrupt the balance between intellectual property owners and the public good that is embodied in current law.
1. Copyright law provisions for digital works should maintain a balance between the interests of creators and copyright owners and the public that is equivalent to that embodied in current statute. The existing legal balance is consonant with the educational ethic of responsible use of intellectual properties, promotes the free exchange of ideas, and protects the economic interests of copyright holders.
2. Copyright law should foster the maintenance of a viable economic framework of relations between owners and users of copyrighted works.
3. Copyright laws should encourage enhanced ease of compliance rather than increasingly punitive enforcement measures.
4. Copyright law should promote the maintenance of a robust public domain for intellectual properties as a necessary condition for maintaining our intellectual and cultural heritage.
5. Facts should be treated as belonging to the public domain as they are under current law.
6. Copyright law should assure that respect for personal privacy is incorporated into access and rights management systems.
7. Copyright law should uphold the principle that liability for infringing activity rests with the infringing party rather than with third parties. Institutions should accept responsibility for acts undertaken at their behest by individuals but should not be held liable for the acts of individuals--whether or not associated with the institution--acting independently. This principle is an essential underpinning for academic freedom.
8. Educational institutions should foster a climate of institutional respect for intellectual property rights by providing appropriate information to all members of the community and assuring that appropriate resources are available for clearing rights attached to materials to be used by the institution, e.g., in support of distance learning.
9. New rights and protections should be created cautiously and only so far as experience proves necessary to meet the Constitutional provision for a limited monopoly to promote the "Progress of Science and useful Arts."
10. Copyright enforcement provisions should not hinder research simply because the products of a line of inquiry might be used in support of infringing activity.
Complete Version of NHA Principles
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