Google Books just won a decade-long copyright fight

The decade-long legal fight over Google's effort to create a digital library of millions of books is finally over.

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge from authors who had argued that the tech giant's project was "brazen violation of copyright law" -- effectively ending the legal battle in Google's favor.

Without the Supreme Court taking up the case, a federal appeals court ruling from October, which found that the book-scanning program fell under the umbrella of fair use, will stand.

[Supreme Court seems divided on Obama’s action on immigration]

Back in 2004, Google started scanning millions of books from major research libraries -- creating a vast database from the digitized copies known as Google Books. Users can search Google Books for quotes or keywords, and it will display paragraphs or pages of context for the results from within the books.

The Authors Guild started complaining about the project in 2005, arguing that Google Books had undermined writers by putting their work online for free.

Google and the Guild worked out a settlement at one point, but it was rejected by a district court judge in 2011. When the case reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit last year, a panel of three judges sided with Google -- finding that the tech giant's efforts amounted to a "transformative" use of the material and that snippets from searching the database don't amount to a "substantial substitute" for an original book.

The Authors Guild then asked the Supreme Court to review the decision -- a request that was denied Monday.

“Today authors suffered a colossal loss,” Authors Guild President Roxana Robinson said in a statement about the high court's decision. Other groups, including the Copyright Alliance, also expressed disappointment at the decision.

"In declining to take the case, the Supreme Court let stand a Second Circuit decision that dramatically expands the boundaries of the fair use doctrine’s transformative use test, which affects creators and copyright owners of all types," Copyright Alliance chief executive Keith Kupferschmid said in a statement.

Google, which had filed a brief opposing the guild's appeal, praised the court's decision to pass on the case.

"We are grateful that the court has agreed to uphold the decision of the Second Circuit, which concluded that Google Books is transformative and consistent with copyright law," the company said in a statement. "The product acts like a card catalog for the digital age by giving people a new way to find and buy books while at the same time advancing the interests of authors."

Source: washingtonpost

Copyright

Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. This is usually only for a limited time. The exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use. A major limitation on copyright is that copyright protects only the original expression of ideas, and not the underlying ideas themselves.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property, applicable to certain forms of creative work. Under US copyright law, legal protection attaches only to fixed representations in a tangible medium. The Berne Convention allows member countries to decide whether creative works must be fixed to enjoy copyright. Article 2, Section 2 of the Berne Convention states: “It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to prescribe that works in general or any specified categories of works shall not be protected unless they have been fixed in some material form. “  Some countries do not require that a work be produced in a particular form to obtain copyright protection. For instance, Spain, France, and Australia do not require fixation for copyright protection. The United States and Canada, on the other hand, require that most works must be “fixed in a tangible medium of expression” to obtain copyright. U.S. law requires that the fixation be stable and permanent enough to be perceive, reproduced or communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. “Similarly, Canadian courts consider fixation to require that the work be “expressed to some extent at least in some material form, capable of identification and having a more or less permanent endurance.” It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders. These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and “moral rights” such as attribution.

Copyrights are considered a territorial right, which means that they do not extend beyond the territory of a specific jurisdiction. While many aspects of national copyright laws have been standardized through international copyright agreements, copyright laws vary by country.

Typically, the duration of a copyright spans the author’s life plus 50to 100 years (that is, copyright typically expires 50 to 100 years after the author dies, depending on the jurisdiction). Some countries require certain copyright formalities to establishing copyright, but most recognize copyright in any completed work, without formal registration. Generally, copyright is enforced as a civil matter, though some jurisdictions do apply criminal sanctions.

Most jurisdictions recognize copyright limitations, allowing “fair” exceptions to the creator’s exclusivity of copyright and giving users certain rights. The development of digital media and computer network technologies have prompted reinterpretation of these of these exceptions, introduced new difficulties in enforcing copyright, and inspired additional challenges to copyright law’s philosophic basis. Simultaneously, businesses with great economic dependence upon copyright, such as those in the music business, have advocated the extension and expansion of copyright and sought additional legal and technological enforcement.  

प्रतिलिपि अधिकारसंग सम्बन्धित कानून र सन्धि

Ø  नेपालको संबिधान २०७२

Ø  प्रतिलिपि अधिकार ऐन, २०५९

Ø  सरकारी मुद्दा सम्बन्धी ऐन, २०४९

Ø  संक्षिप्त कार्यविधि ऐन, २०२८

Ø  प्रतिलिपि अधिकार नियमावली, २०६१

Ø  साहित्यिक तथा कलात्मक रचनाहरूको संरक्षण गर्न बनेको बर्न महासन्धि, १८८६

Ø  प्रस्तोता, ध्वनिअंकन उत्पादक र प्रसारण संस्थाहरूको संरक्षण गर्ने रोम महासन्धि, १९६१

Ø  WIPO प्रतिलिपि अधिकार सन्धि (WCT),१९९६

Ø  ध्वनिअंकन उत्पादकहरूको ध्वनिअंकनको अनाधिकृत नक्कल विरुद्धको संरक्षण प्रदान गर्ने महासन्धि, १९७१

Ø  WIPO प्रस्तुति एवं ध्वनिअंकन सन्धि(WPPT),१९९६

Ø  व्यापारसंग सम्बन्धित बौद्धिक सम्पत्ति अधिकारका पक्षहरू सम्बन्धी सम्झौता (TRIPS सम्झौता), १९९६

Ø  स्याटेलाइट (ब्रसेल्स) महासन्धि, १९७४

Ø  विश्वव्यापी प्रतिलिपि अधिकार महासन्धि

E-Pustakalaya

E-Pustakalaya is an education –focused free and open digital library containing full-text documents, thousand of books, images, educational videos, audio-books, reference materials, and interactive learning software.

E-Pustakalaya is accessible on the Internet at www.pustakalaya.org. It can also be installed in low power servers and deployed in schools and community libraries that either do not have Internet connectivity or have low bandwidth connection. Such local instances of E-Pustakalaya will enable better user experience through fast access and quick downloads. To provide easy access to books in E-Pustakalaya, OLE Nepal has also launched a mobile application which can be freely downloaded from Google play store. The mobile app will give unique experience in terms of ease and convenience in reading books anywhere they prefer. 

source: pustakalaya.org

ISSN (International Standard Serial Number)

An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSN is used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature.

The ISSN system was first drafted as an International Organization for Standardization (ISO), international standard in 1971 and published as ISO 3297 in 1975. ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC 9 is responsible for maintaining the standard.

When a serial with the same content is published in more than one media type, a different ISSN is assigned to each media type. Eg. Many serials are published both in print and electronic media. The ISSN system refers to these types as Print ISSN (p-ISSN) and electronic ISSN (e-ISSN), respectively. Conversely, as defined in ISO 3297:2007, every serial in the ISSN system is also assigned in linking ISSN (ISSN-L), typically the same as the ISSN assigned to the serial in its published medium, which links together all ISSNs assigned to the serial in every medium. 

ISBN (International Standard Book Number)

International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system was developed out of the book numbering system introduced in the United Kingdom in 1967 by J. Whitaker & Sons, Ltd. and in the United States in 1968 by R.R. Bowker.

Objective

The objective of the international standard is to coordinate and standardize the international use of ISBN to uniquely identify on title or edition of a title published by one specific publisher.

Advantage of ISBN

Ø  The ISBN is a unique international identifier for monographic publication; the thirteen digit

number therefore replaces the handling of long bibliographic descriptive records. Time and staff are saved copying mistakes are avoided.

Ø  The ISBN allows compilation and updating of book trade directories, like books in print.

Ø  Information on available book can be found easily.

Ø  Ordering and distribution of book is mainly executed by ISBN; this is a fast and efficient method.

Ø  The ISBN is machine-readable in the form of a 13 digit book land EAN bar code. This is fast

and avoids mistakes.

Ø  The ISBN is needed for the running of electronic point-of – sale system in bookshops.

Ø  Rights management is mainly done on the basis of ISBN.

Ø  Sales data monitoring in done by ISBN.

Ø  Libraries profit from copy-cataloguing by ISBN.

Ø  The national lending right in some countries is based on ISBN.

·         The Function of ISBN

The ISBN is known throughout the world as a short clear and potentially machine readable identification number, which marks any book unmistakably.
It is an essential instrument in modern distribution and rationalization opportunities in the book trade.

Scope of ISBN

For the purpose of the ISBN system books and other items to be numbered include:

1.    Printed books and pamphlets including Braille and maps

Non-printed book Education, Video and transparencies

Ø  Books on cassettes or CDS (talking books)

Ø  Microform publication

Ø  Electronic publication;

Ø  Machine readable tapes

Ø  Diskettes

Ø  CD-ROMS

1.    Mixed media publications (Including Text Materials) Except:

Ø  Ephemeral printed materials such as diaries, calendars (notebooks), advertising matter and the like

Ø  Art prints and art folders without title page and text

Ø  Sound recordings

Ø  Serial publications

Ø  Sheet music

Structure of ISBN:

An ISBN always consists of thirteen digits preceded by the letter ISBN. The thirteen digit number is divided into four parts of variable length which must be separated clearly by hyphens or spaces:          
ISBN: 978-0-571-08989-5    or    ISBN: 978-90-70002-04-3

Group identifier

The first part of the ISBN identifies a country, area or language area participating in the ISBN system           Examples ISBN 90.........
All group identifiers are allocated by the International ISBN Agency in Berlin.

Publisher prefix:

The second part of the ISBN identifies a particular publisher within a group. The publisher prefix may comprise up to seven digits.
Example: ISBN 90-70002...

Title identifier

The third part of the ISBN identifies a specific edition of a publication of a specific publisher. A title identifier may consist of up to six digits.
Example ISBN: 90-70002-04...

Check digit

The check digit is the last digit of an ISBN. It is calculated on modules 11 with weights 20-2

using X in lieu of 10 where ten would occur as a check digit.

ISBN – 13 digits

Since January 2007 ISBN consists of 13 digits. This is in reference to agreement reached between International Article Numbering Association (FAN) and uniform code council (UCC) and ISBN Agency in 1996. According to the agreement the national identifier is replaced with a special Book land identifier represented by the digit 978. The 978 is followed by the rest of the 9 digit and check digit is calculated according to the eAN rule modulus – 10).

ISBN in Nepal:

Understanding the value and advantages of ISBN, Tribhuvan University Central Library applied to the ISBN Head Quarter in 1997. Despite two international reports in support of TUCL and support of National Publishers & Book Seller Association of Nepal NPBAN, Ministry of Education, Govt. of Nepal did not recommend, TUCL's names as a National Agency for three years. The reason was that the Nepal National Library also applied to the Ministry of Education for National ISBN Agency. Mr. Krishna Mani Bhandary continuously communicated to the ISBN Head Quarter for three years as a potential and international support in favour of TUCL. Ms. Neerana Shakya in her dissertation entitled “ISBN in Nepal” submitted of T. U.  Department of Library and Information Science in 2001 has stated that “Had the Chief librarian not been able to react with politicians and bureaucrats and not followed properly and timely chasing the files from table to table, it would have rather been impossible to implement ISBN in Nepal. He fought for bringing system in Nepal personally for many years.”

On the June 15, 1999 Mr. Bhandary wrote to the Dr. Hartmut Walravens, then Director of ISBN Head Quarter reminding pervious communication and international support in favor of TUCL. On June 16, 1999. Dr. Hartmut Walravens, Director International ISBN Agency informed to Mr. Bhandary that after consultation with the advisory body of ISBN, that TUCL was nominated as a national ISBN Agency to provide ISBN to Nepalese publications.

Formally ISBN was begun in Nepal on 26 January 2000; Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala former Primer Minister of Nepal inaugurated the programme.  A table below indicates that 15064 ISBNs have been distributed.

International ISBN Agency has provided following area code for Nepal.

99933 for 10,000 ISBN

99947 for 10,000 ISBN

937 for 1, 00,000 ISBN

Online ISBN Form

Tribhuvan University

Central Library Building ,

Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal

Tel: 330834, 331317,

            Email: tucl@tucl.org.np

            URL: http://www.tucl.org.np

Source: tucl.org.np

DDC updates from OCLC

OCLC publishes Dewey Decimal Classification News to provide comprehensive news updates of interest to libraries that use the Dewey Decimal Classification System. It includes product news, summary reports from the editorial policy committee and other related topics.