Book review: Digital Copyright
Title of Book - Digital copyright, 2nd edition
Author - Paul Pedley
ISBN - 9781856046084
Publisher - Facet
Publisher Website - www.facetpublishing.co.uk
Reviewer Name - Michele Hilton Boon
Title - Information Officer / Programme Manager
Contact details - Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network , 8th floor, Delta House, 50 West Nile Street, Glasgow G1 2NP
Email - michele.hiltonboon@nhs.net
Review
How certain are you that it’s OK to use that screenshot in your user guide? That the use of deep links and images on your web site is within the law? That you understand the differences between what may be permissible under copyright regulations and what’s allowed by subscription product licences? Knowledge of copyright law is essential for information professionals, yet it is a complex area. Compounding this complexity is the problem that the law can frequently and rapidly change, particularly in relation to digital resources.
Paul Pedley, recognised expert on information-related legal issues and Head of Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit, offers a wide-ranging and detailed discussion of current issues in this second edition of Digital Copyright. This book is useful for its reminders of what’s legal and what’s not and its exploration of evolving and gray areas of the law. Beginning with a discussion of how digital materials are and are not different from fixed media and an explanation of issues specific to various categories of digital information (such as web sites, e-books, databases, and music), the book delves into areas of conflict and debate. Interesting topics covered include digital rights management (DRM) technologies and how they might interfere with permitted exceptions, access for disabled persons, and the preservation of cultural heritage by libraries. To examine the issue of orphan works (whose copyright holder is difficult or impossible to determine), Pedley describes the approaches taken by various countries in Europe and North America, demonstrating how one problem may have many possible solutions. In these ways, the book goes beyond a dry recitation of the law to become an interesting exploration of the frontiers of copyright.
Books on digital issues notoriously become dated before they go to print. Presumably this is why Facet initially issued this title as an e-book. I still prefer the classic Gutenberg user interface, myself, and was glad to see the second edition issued in paper. In the end, the currency of the book (at the time of writing this review) does not appear to have suffered from hard copy production; citations and legal cases from as recent as 2007 appear throughout, and for this user, the end product is more accessible, attractive, and user-friendly than the e-book.
Keeping up to date on legal issues can be like eating your bran flakes for breakfast: good for you, but potentially dry and unappetising. In this book, quotations from legal acts and the like provide plenty of fibre. Examples from case law and notes on implications for libraries add flavour; longer library-related case studies and a greater focus on the implications of the material for the librarian audience might further increase the appeal of what is already a useful and interesting work.