The METS community may be (will be?) interested in a study on rights
expression languages recently completed by Karen Coyle for the Library of
Congress, especially since METSRights is one of the languages examined
(with Nancy's input). The report was commissioned by the Library's Network
Development and MARC Standards Office to help establish a methodology for
examining emerging rights languages. It is a contribution to the
information community dialog on issues and tools for controlling digital
rights. The study compares four major languages – MPEG21/5, ODRL, Creative
Commons, and METSRights – plus a few others, and establishes a taxonomy of
characteristics to consider when selecting a language for a particular
application. The report is also useful to clarify thinking on directions
that need to be pursued in new rights expression language developments over
the next few years. Rights management in the digital arena is a fast
moving target, as is exemplified by the recent changes in ownership of
XrML. Coyle's report is accessible from the following site:
www.loc.gov/standards.
Karen did an excellent job -- you will find this report instructive if you
know a little but still interesting if you already know a lot about RELs
.
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Sally H. McCallum, Chief, Network Development and
MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20540 USA
[log in to unmask] (Fax: 1-202-707 0115) (Voice: 1-202-707 5119)
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