Books and Journalism
October 16 3:00 pm
Based upon draft by Howard Weaver, with suggested revisions from Paul Levy and Jamie Love – for discussion
Statement of Fundamentals
Emergence of a global, digital network capable of free, ubiquitous copies has changed the worlds of publishing forever. Laws, regulations and conventions that evolved to foster creation and dissemination of creative work in a world defined by physical copies cannot accommodate these new realities, and society must find new ways to balance competing interests and demands in these realms.
The primary competing interests are each of great significance: to support and ensure continued creation of intellectual works of significant societal value, and to ensure all citizens have unfettered access to such works for a wide variety of uses.
We believe these interests can be reconciled in ways that reward the intellectual effort of creation and also make it accessible to the widest number of consumers. Not all the existing institutions, structures or conventions of today’s system will survive into tomorrow. Those that do survive will be altered and refined by the new realities. Entirely new schemes may also be required.
Statement of critical assumptions
• A. The ability of individuals to copy and freely distribute creative works they did not create does serious damage to established systems of compensating individuals for creation and can become a barrier to new works, limiting public choice.
• B The ability of individuals to copy and freely distribute works they did not create likewise greatly expands the audience for such work, enriches consumers who can more easily access it and inspires creation of additional work.
Statement of essential principles for action
We recognize several touchstone principles that need to be accommodated in any system that seeks to balance points A and B above:
1. Writers whose work is sold have a right to collect revenue from those sales.
2. The appropriation and distribution of works without permission or compensation in some cases endanger the ecosystem supporting knowledge and art.
3. All people are free to quote from, build on, and comment upon the work of others. Rules regulating such use should be liberally interpreted, with the balance tipping in favor of broad public use. People are also free to make limited copies for personal use or to share works with others in ways that do not unreasonably prejudice the material and moral interests of authors.
4. Copyright provides certain ownership rights in expression of ideas and facts, but not in the ideas or facts themselves.
5. The creation of works of significant value to society will often require expertise, experience and education not immediately available to all citizens.
6. Expression of great value to society, whether in journalism or books, may not easily attract short-term or immediate financial support in a marketplace increasingly devoted to entertainment and individual preferences.
7. In some cases, the optimal solution is to treat creative intellectual works as a public good — that is, establishing ways to reward creative individuals and creative communities, while works themselves are freely available to everyone. Developing ways to do so should be a high priority in this field.
8. In other cases, creativity will be supported primarily by the marketplace, and society has an interest in some regulation of that process, including the granting of balanced and appropriate intellectual property rights, or curbing unfair business practices, to ensure a continued flow of creativity and information in the public interest.
9. Consumers may wish to aggregate their willingness to pay for certain intellectual creations.
10. It is in the interest of consumers and creators to ensure that the creation, distribution and use of these intellectual creations is free of government censorship or restriction.
11. As traditional models of financial support for journalism and book writing erode, systems that arise to replace them will demand vigilance to guard against undue or undisclosed distortions introduced by funders, be they government, philanthropic or private.
12. Copyright law will need to change to accommodate the new ways that people access and use information, particularly in recognizing shorter time spans and the increasing importance of collaborations and re-purposing of works.
13. In general, consumers will be well served by systems that diminish the distance between creative communities and themselves, and curb monopolistic or oligopolistic abuses in the distribution of works..
Relations between authors and intermediaries
14. Within 30 years of signing a contract with a publisher or employer, the author [or her heirs] should have an opportunity to regain the rights to the work under copyright.
15. The measures to protect authors should not be overly burdensome, with regard to their ability of to use portions of works to create new works.
16. All people have a fundamental human right to access to works, to privacy, and to development.
17. Unfair contracts between authors and publishers should not enforced by courts.
18. The antitrust laws should provide space for freelance writers and freelance artists to jointly negotiate the terms and conditions of contracts for the sale of written material or graphic material created by them to publishers, in the same manner as employees may engage in collective bargaining.
Creation and term of copyrights
19. For authors, a term of copyright protection of life plus 50 years is sufficient. Longer terms undermine access to works, to the detriment of both readers and authors.
20. When consistent with the WTO TRIPS Agreement, rights under copyright and related rights should be contingent upon the registration of works.
21. Copyright laws should allow authors to authorize the republishing of works that are out of print.
22. Copyright law should allow republishing of works where copyright owners cannot be located.
Accessibility for persons with disabilities
23. The accessibility of works for persons with reading disabilities is a matter of human rights.
24. Authors and publishers should voluntarily license works, including digital XML code, to organizations that make works available to persons who are blind or have other reading disabilities.
25. The private use of assistive technologies such as text-to-speech software does not infringe rights under copyright.
26. Contracts that restrict the use of assistive technologies, such as text-to-speech, should not enforceable by courts.
27. Governments should support a WIPO Treaty for persons who have reading disabilities.
[28. Additional consensus points here, please.]
