Proposed Global Accessible Library Terms of Conditions
Business Model Project Team – Draft document 1.1
December 2009
1. Introduction
The Business Model proposal for the Global Accessible Library (GAL) provides an indication of 4 possible funding models. These were discussed in brief. A number of funding issues associated with the funding of the GAL were raised in the same document. The purpose of this document is to contextualize some of the financial issues and to propose terms of conditions for the GAL. The purpose of this document is not to provide comprehensive solutions. It may only serve to confirm and acknowledge the existence of some of these issues. Some may be resolve within a group context while others may be decided upon by individual libraries depending on the situation.
2. Terms of Conditions: General considerations
Consideration 1: Rendering services through the GAL will cost money
Making reading and information material available will cost money. The production of material, storage, dissemination and various other aspects will cost money. Each participating library will have to decide to what extent cost of rendering the service will be carried by the library, passed on to a library member or perhaps a combination of both.
Cost may be considered as an integral part of the total service delivery offering of the GAL. Participating libraries will then have to budget for the expense. It may also be approached from a value added perspective where individual members will have to pay for the benefit. Each participating library will have to decide how to approach this issue.
Consideration 2: Subscription fees
The issue whether all participating organizations of the GAL will pay a subscription fee will have to be decided by the members. If it is decided to levy such a fee then each library will have to decide their own decision whether they would participate in the GAL or not. Decisions will have to be made on the administration of such subscription fees and how it will be administered and applied. The decision to levy such a fee should be based on sound, fair and transparent factors.
Consideration 3: Acquiring titles and accessing titles
It is currently possible for one Library serving blind and visually impaired people to purchase audio and Braille titles from another library serving the same target group. This is done for various reasons, e.g. saving production time and cost, making titles available in a shorter span of time and as part of collection building. This model may still be applied in the future where emphasis is placed on acquiring titles where it is important for instance to manage and control the titles in the collection.
In the digital environment the emphasis is increasingly moving from acquiring titles to providing access to titles. Library “holdings” are replaced by library networks, portals and various access points to make it as easy as possible for users to access material. The transaction cost should be as low as possible for all parties involved.
Where an item is located or who owns the item is less important to the user as long as they can get access to the item. A Library becomes an intermediary to ensure that registered users obtain legal access to material and that the rights of all involved are protected. Members of the GAL will play this role.
Consideration 4: Production standards and quality of material
Various libraries use various production processes and standards. Some items may therefore be of good quality but not according to the standard users of another country are used to. All participating GAL members will have to agree on a basic quality framework for the production of digital material inclusive of technical standards. Agreement on minimum standards and the standardization thereof may be considered. All digital material should be made available with a note field indicating the production standard of the item and any other relevant information e.g. source of book production, etc. Users downloading the item will then know what to expect.
Consideration 5: Collection development requirement
Participating GAL members will have to commit to contribute and make available titles as part of the global service. A situation must be avoided where certain members act as net producers and providers of material whereas others only remain net “borrowers”. It is accepted that all participating members do not have the same production capacity. It may therefore be necessary for participating libraries to commit to contribute a certain number of titles per annum based on their past production statistics.
3. Terms and Conditions
Terms and conditions would be required to assist with the governance of the GAL. All participating GAL members will have to adhere to these Terms and Conditions. These terms may be as broad and/or detailed as decided by a Governing structure. It is proposed to use minimum requirements initially requiring the least effort to administer. The Terms should provide a basic framework for all who want to participate to understand their commitments and responsibilities.
Some of the terms may include issues such as:
4. WIPO's Standing committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR)
It is recommended to consider the Trusted Intermediary (TI) Guidelines approved by the Stakeholders’ Platform of WIPO’s SCCR during November 2009 as part of the GAL terms of conditions. There is a certain synergy between the two initiatives. The Guidelines have been adapted in line with current GAL thinking for the purposes of this document.
The TI guidelines consist of high level principles with a threefold aim, namely:
The TI guidelines were presented to the members of the platform on the understanding that they were not intended to be legally binding. It was also specified that nothing in the Guidelines would change national or international law at any time.
The Guidelines are applicable in a business-to-business (B2B) environment (i.e. delivery between two TIs in the same or different countries). The fact that the GAL would allow an individual to interact directly with a TI should not change the application of the guidelines.
The WIPO working group is sharing the ideals of the GAL. It is stated that the aim is to have a seamless cooperation between offerings from rightsholders and trusted intermediaries. Print-disabled persons should be able to read the full range of publications, obtained via mainstream channels, in a format that suits their individual requirements. The use of flexible production systems or accessible digital products should make this possible. Access to works would take place through specialised service organisations. These services should work without unnecessary duplications at national or international level.
A Trusted Intermediary (TI) is defined as an entity that facilitates interactions between two parties who both trust the third party. The objective of a TI is to facilitate the traffic between an indeterminate number of rightsholders as content providers and print-disabled persons as end users in a controlled manner.
Guidelines
a) Lawful access to the works
Legal agreements should be in place to allow GAL participants to reproduce material published by publishers in digital format. Each country may have their own procedure of how production and delivery and production will work.
b) Contractual relationships
Contractual agreements should be in place to legitimize all activities taking place between a Library and a supplier. In the GAL context this could be taken further to include individual membership application forms. These forms should be seen as a contract between a library and a user where the rights and responsibilities are made clear.
c) Remuneration
Remuneration between parties is acknowledged depending on the situation although the aim is “modest or zero remuneration”. GAL participants should be prepared to pay depending on the requirement.
d) Formats
The focus of the GAL is about providing access to digital material only. This fact should be clear to the beneficiaries of the GAL to manage expectations. The point that GAL members should agree on certain technical and other standards has been made earlier.
e) Supply of digital master files
This principle may not be directly applicable in the GAL context since master files will not be exchanged. The principle that a file transfer should take place through an accepted method of transfer is in order. This should be determined by the Steering Committee of the GAL. All GAL members should adhere to the requirements for secure storage and handling of content in digital form and for record keeping. Effective control and compliance procedures should be in place.
f) Delivery of content to qualifying end users
Adherence to content protection would be a requirement. The Steering Group proposed security mechanisms to trace the whereabouts of the copy, for instance by using IP tracking or watermarking/fingerprinting. Security programs should be in place to follow the use of individual digital formats and report exceptional use. The aim is to ensure compliance and eliminate repeated infringements.
In cases of digital material, an authentication process will be in place to ensure that the delivery takes place within a closed system, to registered users with qualifying print disability.
g) Approved Institution
A participant of the GAL must have the trust of representatives of print-disabled persons and rightsholders.
The characteristics of an approved institution are the following:
- They operate on a not-for-profit basis;
- They register the people they serve;
- Each organisation has as a primary mission to provide specialized services relating to training, education, or adaptive reading or information access needs of print disabled;
- They maintain policies and procedures to establish the bona fide nature of people with print disabilities that they serve, as well as ensuring full and complete compliance with copyright law.
Files will only be delivered to institutions that have subscribed to the Terms of Conditions and each organization must ensure that files are only transferred between organizations that belong to the network of the GAL.
h) Beneficiaries
GAL member organizations must have a register of qualified recipients, who are persons with a print disability.
i) Copyright Information
All copyright information should be provided in the material. The copy must further include a notice identifying it as specifically produced for the benefit of persons with print disabilities. It should also include information of the source organization.
j) Notification requirements to rights-holders and records
Notification requirements may be developed for different formats (for instance Braille, audio, digital files). Records of titles and formats and the number of copies or uses or any relevant management information may be kept.. This information may be made available to relevant stakeholders on request.
Source: WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and related Rights, Nineteenth Session, Geneva, December 14 to 18, 2009, Stakeholders’ Platform : Second Interim Report