On Fri, Apr 16, 2004 at 10:05:02AM -0700, Andrew Sly wrote:
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004, Steve Solomon wrote:
It is possible to extend the offering beyond what is public domain and material with copyright but with valid permission to offer it. It is possible to offer any book that is out of print. I do this at Soil and Health Library. I already am doing it, by functioning as a LIBRARY.
I believe the relevant Canadian laws that would govern how this could be done can be found here:
EXCEPTION FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES AND MUSEUMS REGULATIONS
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/SOR-99-325/79228.html
A potentially interesting possibility (regarding copyright) is that the Copyright Board of Canada does issue non-exclusive licences allowing works to be used, if you can show you have made every effort to locate the copyright holder, and have been unsuccesful.
Unlocatable Copyright Owners
http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/unlocatable/index-e.html
This page includes a list of such works licenses have been granted for, and as they are non-exclusive, could conceivably be legal for PG of Canada to use. Of course, more legal research would be needed before doing this.
Andrew
It would be great for PG-CA to pursue such uses. Our lawyers in the US scared us away from this, because it sounds like such exemptions can be handled one at a time, on request -- putting stuff up for general download wouldn't fall under the exception. (Sections 108e and 108h in US Title 17, if I remember correctly). Maybe PG-CA could set a precedent we could use! -- Greg