Sep. 09, 2009 - Issue #725: Sex in the City 2009
Zeitgeist: Digitization Strategy
Stuck at the starting gate: While other countries move ahead, Canada's national digitization strategy remains MIA
Digitization of books has become synonymous over the past year with the
Google Book Search project and the class action lawsuit launched in response
to the search giant's efforts to create an Internet-based library consisting
of millions of books. While the digitizing continues, the legal drama reached
an important stage this week when a court in New York closed third-party
submissions supporting or criticizing the settlement.
The attention on Google Book Search is understandable, yet it has distracted
from the broader question of government-supported digitization efforts. Many
countries have not been content to leave the digitization of their culture
and heritage to Google, instead embarking on plans to create their own
digital libraries.
Canada was once thought to be part of this group—national digitization
working groups were established and a strategy seemed imminent—yet
plans have languished to the point that it feels as if someone has hit the
delete key on the prospect of a comprehensive Canadian digital library.
Canada's failure to keep pace was made readily apparent by the release late
last month of a European consultation document on its digitization efforts.
In September 2005, the European Union launched i2010, a digitization action
plan. Several years later, Europeana debuted, a website that provides direct
access to more than 4.6 million digitized books, newspapers, film clips,
maps, photographs and documents from across Europe. The site plans to host 10
million objects by the end of next year.
The majority of the materials included to date are in the public domain,
meaning they are no longer covered by copyright and can be used and accessed
by all. In fact, the European Commission has emphasized "works in the public
domain should stay there once digitized and be made accessible through the
Internet." It acknowledges, however, that this is not always the case since
some groups claim rights to digitized copies of public domain works or charge
for downloads.
The European consultation document grapples with difficult issues such as
guaranteeing access to public domain works and identifying ways to improve
access to works that are still subject to copyright protection but are out of
print, or for which the copyright owner cannot be located.
By comparison, Canada seems stuck at the digitization starting gate. Library
and Archives Canada was given responsibility for the issue but was unable to
muster the necessary support for a comprehensive plan. The Department of
Canadian Heritage, which would seem like a natural fit for a strategy
designed to foster access to Canadian works, has funded a handful of small
digitization efforts but has shown little interest in crafting a vision
similar to Europeana.
Digitization law and policies have also gone missing-in-action. The national
copyright consultation wraps up next week, but the digitization issue has
scarcely been raised.
European Commissioner for Information Society and Media Vivian Reding has
called for the creation of "a modern set of European rules that encourage the
digitization of books." Yet in Canada, few have placed the spotlight on the
legal barriers to creating a national digital library. These include the
danger associated with extending the term of copyright or providing overbroad
legal protection for digital locks that could render Canadian culture
inaccessible.
Supporters once talked about the dream of a national digital library
comprised of every Canadian book ever published. Years later, they are still
dreaming. V
Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online at michaelgeist.ca.
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