>>Copyright >> Principles
BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGING INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
COMPACT VERSION
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.
PREFACE
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."
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.
|