1.
LEGAL CHALLENGES FOR
BUILDING DIGITAL COLLECTIONS.
13/10/14
Workshop on the future of libraries
Biblioteca delle Oblate
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2.
LEGAL CHALLENGES FOR
BUILDING DIGITAL COLLECTIONS.
Argyri Panezi, Ph.D. Candidate
European University Institute, department of law 2

3.
• “How libraries evolve to remain relevant in the new
information landscape.”
• Libraries’ traditional role: collecting, organizing, giving
access
My research question:
• Does the existing copyright framework provide enough
space for libraries to claim an equivalent central role in the
digital space?
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The IFLA report and the
future of libraries.

4.
Categorising works according
to their legal status.
• 3 categories of works according to copyright status:
1. Copyrighted works
2. Orphan and out-of-print works
3. Public domain
• Legal status dictates accessibility - two phases:
Input phase: how does the library get access to the
copyrighted material
Output phase: in what manner is the library allowed to
offer access to its users/the public
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5.
• Article 6 of the WIPO Copyright
- right of distribution
- limited by exhaustion
• Exhaustion is the legal basis for library lending but NOT
for e-lending
• Currently copyright law worldwide explicitly only grants
exhaustion to tangible objects, such as printed books
• [03/09/14] – pending case
Dutch Court refers preliminary questions on the lending of e-books
to the Court of Justice of the European Union
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Copyrighted works.

6.
1. Perpetual access: replicating print books lending
2. Subscription model: database of e-book titles
3. Pay per view: list of available titles display and fee per
view of a specific title
- Patron-driven acquisition
• Advantages & Disadvantages
• Fear of ‘cannibalization’ of sales
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Licensing and e-lending
models.

7.
• A market failure problem
• Appreciable corpus of works
• Orphan works directive 2012/28/EU ‘on certain permitted
uses of orphan works’
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Orphan and out-of-print
works.

8.
• Freed from copyright.
• The legal consequence of the public domain status is that
users may access, reuse and appropriate freely from these
works.
• Value of the public domain:
1. Provides building blocks for new creation
2. Enables competitive imitation
3. Low cost access to information
4. Public access to cultural heritage
5. Education
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Public domain works.

9.
[11/09/2014] - decided
Case C-117/13 Technische Universität Darmstadt v Eugen
Ulmer KG
A Member State may authorize libraries to digitize, without the
consent of the right-holders, books they hold in their collection
so as to make them available at electronic reading points
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Recent developments.

10.
• Critical moment
• Participation of libraries to the policy debate
• Public Consultation on the review of the EU copyright
rules – Commission Report on the responses (July 2014)
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2013/copyright-rules/
docs/contributions/consultation-report_en.pdf
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Ways forward.

11.
Thank you.
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Argyri Panezi, Ph.D. Candidate | argyri.panezi@eui.eu
European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Department of Law