the world” by 2010, remains intact. A legislative framework for copyright and related rights in the information society that fosters the growth of the knowledge-based economy in the European Union was therefore seen as a crucial element in any strategy leading towards that goal.
At the same time, the European Commission is an active promoter of the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation by libraries, archives and museums. In connection with the “i2010 initiative”, the Commission published a recommendation on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation.[1] The objective of this initiative is to develop digitised material from libraries, archives and museums, as well as to give citizens throughout Europe access to its cultural heritage, by making it searchable and usable on the Internet. The achievement of these goals inevitably raises copyright issues. As noted in Recital 10 of the Recommendation, only part of the material held by libraries, archives and museums is in the public domain, while the rest is protected by intellectual property rights.
To what extent do the provisions of the Information Society Directive affect the way digital works are being used? Do the provisions of the Directive pertaining to the limitations on copyright and the legal protection of technological protection measures (TPMs) allow libraries, archives and museums to comply with the objectives of the Recommendation on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation? In other words, are the goals of the Information Society Directive compatible with those of the Recommendation on digitisation and accessibility of material?
This chapter is divided into a further four sections. Section 2 puts Directive 2001/29/EC in the context of the digital public domain, by describing the public domain from a continental European law perspective and the position of libraries, archives, museums and scientific research. Section 3 analyses the impact that the implementation of the provisions of the Directive dealing with the exceptions and limitations on copyright has on the activities of libraries, archives and museums. The provisions of the Directive on the legal protection of TPMs are put to a comparable test in section 4. Section 5 sums up with a number of concluding remarks.
- ↑ Commission of the European Communities, Recommendation 2006/585/EC on the digitisation and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation O.J.C.E. L 236/28, 31 August 2006.
