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[FYI] Net copyright clearance scheme announced
- To: debate@fitug.de
- Subject: [FYI] Net copyright clearance scheme announced
- From: "Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>
- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 19:13:31 +0200
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http://www.vnunet.com/News/1102746
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Net copyright clearance scheme announced
A service that lets web publishers trace pirated material will launch
in Europe in September as the European Union moves towards a single
copyright law.
Brussels based Info2clear authenticates and time-stamps copyrighted
material for journalists, publishers, translators, photographers,
authors and research firms. It also helps track stolen copyright
material.
According to Forrester Research, in 1998 copyrighted print material
worth two billion euros was cleared for reproduction, but this was
only a tenth of the total value of original material copied.
Info2clear claims that the lack of a simple way to clear copyright
can be blamed for this 18 billion euro shortfall. It says publishers
using its services will be able to obtain refunds for every copy
made, prevent piracy and enforce their copyright without committing
human or technical resources to chasing pirates.
The lack of a common European copyright law has until now made pan-
European copyright, or intellectual property, protection extremely
difficult as the fuss over the MP3 music compression system, and the
Napster file-sharing program dedicated to it, has illustrated.
However, a new EC directive - Information Society: Copyright and
Related Rights - will shortly be agreed and there will be a June 2002
deadline for member states to enact legislation based on the final
draft. Once such legislation is on the statute books, writs are
expected to start flying as publishers clamp down on unauthorised
uses of their copyrighted material.
Info2clear's system means authors can attach a copyright policy to
their content, which can be used by Info2Clear to monitor usage of
that content.
Its 'get-a-seal' product electronically seals the content, issuing
its author with a time-dated, digitally-signed certificate, and an
electronic tag appears as an icon with the content when it is
published online. The copyright owner can then define what charges,
if any, should be levied on third parties wishing to publish their
material.
Users wishing to reproduce the content click on the icon and are
taken to Info2clear's get-a-copy.com website where they gain
clearance and pay for their copies. Rates are expected to be around
12 euros per minimum 25 pages or copies. Info2clear then takes a
percentage of generated revenues in what is essentially an
application service provider business model.
Info2clear says its products could mean a tougher time for casual
copyright pirates publishing reproduced material online if copyright
holders start filing lawsuits.
Roland Louski, vice president of legal practices at Info2call, said:
"It will be a help. A copyright holder can go to a court and say:
'Look, I'm being protected by this system, this technical envelope
under copyright law, and there has been a violation and we have
tracked the process'."
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