Topic 3 is Legal Deposit.
KEI ‘s question is the following: should these designated deposit systems –national archives or libraries– be mandated or encouraged as I believe it is described in the US principles)?
We’re not even sure this is a copyright issue and to what extent this is essential for libraries.
However, as the IFLA Statement underlined, Legal deposit was the original limitation on copyright, embedded in the Statute of Anne and we believe it could be discussed in the form of a model law intended to ensure the preservation of works at a national level.
Re TOPIC 4: LIBRARY LENDING. if preservation and reproduction for safeguarding are “easy topics” in the “to do list” we are looking at today, this is certainly an interesting but difficult topic.
KEI would like to provide the following comment.
Whatever form an instrument on library lending takes — mandatory or not mandatory as a model law or not– it will have to start with a discussion dealing with the ever increasing portion of digital resources that are and will be distributed (I would refer you to CLA and other libraries’ representatives figures) without forgetting how much physical lending remains essential for many users and uses.
While this is clearly the core of libraries’ mission, it is one of the most controversial topics for some member states and for KEI this topic would benefit from a discussion leading to a model law rather than a binding instrument.
Finally, as users are getting more and more familiar with e-books, publishers themselves must adapt their business models and not prevent libraries from fulfilling their mission.