The carrot v. the stick: can copyright be used to enhance access to cultural heritage resources in the networked environment?

Abstract

Copyright, if used effectively, managed well and respected in business arrangements, encourages and enhances access to content in the Internet environment. But with the advent of new technologies and the emergence of a knowledge-based society, new ways of thinking are required in order to ensure that the Internet remains a ‘place’ where information can flow with few if any restrictions. Using the modern museum as example, this paper analyzes two types of intellectual property – databases and photographs – to determine whether copyright protection reduces or enhances access. It also touches briefly on some new management models which meet the needs of the users as well as the authors of copyright materials, while still fulfilling the key financial objectives of the organizations that host or provide content.

Fair Use, Fair Dealing: will they survive?

“…by Rina Elster Pantalony 1 A previous article by this author discussed an emerging phenomenon on the Internet 2 . That is, how the law, by denying copyright protection to certain kinds of digital works, may have restricted access to such works instead of liberating them, as was initially intended by the judiciary.…”