Maybe if they actually knew who owned them it would easier for them to stream them without permission or payment
( I am in an especially snarky mood tonight). On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 5:11 PM, Anthony Anderson <[email protected]> wrote: > From a most recent issue of *The Chronicle of Higher Education*. > Apparently when it > comes to possible copyright infringement issues, UCLA does not always > pursue what > some might term a consistent policy. > > Cheers! > (and "Go Trojans!" ;-) ) > Anthony > > ******************************* > Anthony E. Anderson > Social Studies and Arts & Humanities Librarian > Von KleinSmid Library > University of Southern California > Los Angeles, CA 90089-0182 > (213) 740-1190 [email protected] > "Wind, regen, zon, of kou, > Albert Cuyp ik hou van jou." > ********************************* > > > > ############################################################################################## > Out of Fear, Colleges Lock Books and Images Away From Scholars > [image: Out of Fear, Institutions Lock Millions of Books and Images Away > from Scholars 1] > > Riney Records > > This rare recording is part of a Mexican-music collection restricted by the > university that holds it because the copyright owners can't be found, making > the record an "orphan." > Enlarge > Image<http://chronicle.com/article/Out-of-Fear-Institutions-Lock/127701/#> > > By Marc Parry > > A library of 8.7 million digital volumes. A trove of 100,000 ocean-science > photos. An archive of 57,000 Mexican-music recordings. > > A common problem bedevils those different university collections. Wide > online access is curtailed, in part because they contain "orphan works," > whose copyright owners can't be found. And the institutions that hold the > collections—a consortium of major research libraries and the University of > California campuses at San Diego and Los Angeles—must deal with legal > uncertainty in deciding how to share the works. A university that goes too > far could end up facing a copyright-infringement lawsuit. > > Many colleges now have the ability to digitize a wide variety of > collections for broad use but frequently back away. And that reluctance > harms scholarship, because researchers end up not using valuable documents > if they can't afford to fly to a distant archive to see them. > > This spring academics, advocacy groups, and government officials are paying > new attention to the issue. The fresh look comes after Google's attempt to > solve the problem for books ran off the rails in March, when a judge > scuttled<http://chronicle.com/article/Judge-Rejects-Settlement-in/126864/>a > proposed settlement that would have allowed the company to open up access > to many orphan works through its book-digitization program. Now various > groups with a stake in the debate are floating proposals for Congress to > achieve what Google hasn't.* * > > * * > > **A close look at one archive shows why the mass digitization of orphan > works is creating such trouble. > > The UCLA library is building a Web repository for the Arhoolie > Foundation's Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American > Recordings, an archive of rare 78- and 45-rpm records that date as far back > as 1905. When many of the recordings became accessible to the public on the > collection's Web site, in 2009, UCLA bragged that it was largest online > archive of its kind. And the digitizing is only about halfway done. The > archive is important to students and scholars who want to learn about the > musical heritage of North America and the cultural development of one of the > largest minority groups in the United States. > > The collection grew out of a love affair between a now-79-year-old German > immigrant and the Mexican tunes he would hear on the radio in California and > in cantinas every time he drove through the American Southwest. Chris > Strachwitz was enamored by *corridos*, or narrative ballads. He combed > record shops, distributors, jukebox companies, and even radio stations. > Among the tunes he salvaged are recordings from small, regional labels that > have dropped out of sight. Mr. Strachwitz donated his records to the > Arhoolie Foundation, which he leads, and in 2001 the foundation started > digitizing the songs with UCLA. > > But the university is sharing only a fraction of that music with the world > because it believes most of the collection is made up of orphans, still > covered by copyright. Full access is restricted to computers connected to > the campus network. Off-campus users can hear only 50-second snippets. UCLA > chose that policy based on its reading of fair-use exceptions to copyright > law, which may permit reproductions for teaching and research. Going further > would introduce "a level of risk that, given the current status of copyright > law, was really challenging," says Sharon E. Farb, associate university > librarian for collection management and scholarly communication. > > (Her concern isn't abstract: UCLA is defending itself in a separate > copyright-infringement lawsuit over its use of streaming-video technology. > See article on Page A4.) > > Mr. Strachwitz, for his part, rejects the idea that most of his collection > is orphaned. A quick scan of Frontera's Web > site<http://frontera.library.ucla.edu/index.html>shows that many of the > recordings were issued by major labels like Columbia > and Victor. Mr. Strachwitz would like to see full digital copies of the > music available to the world. But "UCLA is chicken to do it," he argues, > because "they don't want to raise the ire of the record business, who could > possibly—but it's very improbable—step in and say, 'Hmmm ... we own this > stuff. Why don't you pay us?'" > > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues > relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, > preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and > related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective > working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication > between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and > distributors. > > -- Jessica Rosner Media Consultant 224-545-3897 (cell) 212-627-1785 (land line) [email protected]
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VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
