Network Bulletin No. 97-25
Date: May 2, 1997
Subject: Copyright
Index term: Production of works by network libraries
As outlined in _Facts: Copyright Law Amendment, 1996: PL
104-197_, issued December 1996, network libraries can now
record or braille nondramatic literary works published in
the United States without requesting copyright permission.
The following questions and responses provide clarification.
Q. Can the network library now simply begin recording or
brailling or are additional steps needed?
A. Yes, libraries may begin special-format production of
works meeting all of the following criteria.
1) The work must be published in the United States,
2) It must be a nondramatic literary work,
3) The production must have begun after September 16,
1996, and
4) There must not be further reproduction or
distribution in other than a specialized format.
Copyright permission is still required for books
published in other countries, for dramatic works, and
works that are not literary in nature. Requests for
copyright clearance for these works may be sent to the
publisher directly or to the Collection Development
Section using the copyright permission form, 73-128,
available from the multistate centers as FR 128.
The new exemption covers the production of all
nondramatic literary works protected by U.S. copyright,
regardless of when they were first published. Any
braille transcription, narration, reproduction, or
distribution that took place prior to September 16,
1996, without the written permission of the copyright
holder(s), may be considered an infringement. Written
copyright permission must be obtained for any
production that was begun before that date.
Q. What announcement should replace the copyright
permission statement?
A. Technical Standard 3, which pertains to local
production of materials, is currently being revised to
guide network libraries. NLS specifies the language to
be used by our contracted producers in specifications
#300, Book Mastering, and #403, Labeling and Packaging
Cassette Books, as follows.
[Begin indented text.]
Two notices are required both in print
and in the _special format_. For
recordings, they must appear _in the
narration_ and _on the print label_ of
the cassette shell. For braille
materials they must appear _in print_ as
well as _in the braille transcription_.
The first required notice is, "Copyright
(date and holder(s))." The symbol (c) or
the abbreviation "Copr." can be
substituted for "copyright." If the
print copy shows several copyright
dates, such as for a revised edition, a
renewed copyright, or various
contributions to a compilation or an
anthology, use the most recent date.
The second required notice is, "Further
reproduction or distribution in other
than a specialized format is
prohibited." NLS requires its audio
producers to add this second notice to
the closing announcements at the end of
the last side, after the statement,
"Published by: (publisher's name and
address as it appears in the print
edition). In braille works, these two
sentences appear on the title page.
[End indented text.]
The NLS-produced software that libraries use to create
print-braille labels for cassettes will be changed to
include the required print announcements. For
information about the print-braille label project,
contact Michael Moodie, NLS research and development
officer.
For further information please contact:
Ruth J. Foss
Head, Collection Development Section
|