the digital copyright balance.

Byline: tracey caldwell

The digital copyright balance

The British Library has waded into the copyright debate, calling for a balance between the rights of creators and public access in its intellectual property (or, IPR) manifesto, which it launched at the Labour and Conservative party conferences.

It fears the traditional rights of libraries and researchers are already being eroded by digital rights management (DRMs) technology, and may be eroded further by changes in copyright law made in response to fierce lobbying by commercial interests. The manifesto makes six key recommendations for reform.

Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library, says, "We are keen to maintain fair dealing rights for research purposes, as well as creativity in science. We are at the forefront of the problems encountered by other libraries, and of a debate that is far too important to be left to lawyers as it's attracting polarised positions. The stakes are high, as shown by the deluge of response to former Financial Times editor Andrew Gowers' review of current intellectual property [IP] policies."

In perhaps a last-ditch attempt to raise awareness of the wider ramifications of more restrictive copyright law, the British Library hosted debates at the party conferences that revealed the wide disparity in views.

It's good to talk