January 20, 2011 at 19:44Amendment on allowing free copying of books for libraries really gave a red light
Here is more detailed news about the cancellation of the amendment to the Civil Code, with links to an open letter from copyright holders, a list of amendments to the Civil Code, proposed for consideration last year and other useful information.
At the end of December last year, a mass of Habr users were happy with the “revolutionary” amendments to the Civil Code, as they were called. There were amendments that allowed photographing and sharing photos of some buildings like the Ostankino Tower or the White House, and there was an amendment allowing libraries to copy works for free for further storage in electronic or paper form (a more or less detailed list of such amendments is here ) The amendments that were going to be made to the Civil Code were really unique, but it seems that we were happy early on.
The fact is that immediately after the publication of the preliminary version of the Civil Code as amended, many copyright holders began the active process of "reversing the river." Many organizations, individuals and associations of copyright holders began to impede the implementation of amendments in the final version of the Civil Code. Among writers, musicians and representatives of the film industry, Daria Dontsova took the most active part in the fight against amendments (well, her novels are the greatest value of our time), Andrei Makarevich, Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky and others.
Several open letters were written to the president of Russia (here is one of them), which seem to have their effect. The fact is that in the final list of amendments to the Civil Code there is no amendment on free copying of works for libraries. This was reported by Elena Pavlova , a member of the Council for the Codification and Improvement of Civil Law under the President of Russia. By the way, the open letter to the president contained an interesting phrase that the new amendments “cross out the very concept of the e-book market and open up virtually unlimited scope for piracy.”
It’s a pity if this amendment is not made - after all, besides the priceless bestsellers of the same Dontsova, libraries have very popular editions that are less than 70 years old (as far as I remember, a book can be digitized only after 70 years from the date of its publication), and which we all need so much. But what to do, now all this wealth will remain, apparently, in the repositories of libraries without the possibility of appearing in digital form.
At the end of December last year, a mass of Habr users were happy with the “revolutionary” amendments to the Civil Code, as they were called. There were amendments that allowed photographing and sharing photos of some buildings like the Ostankino Tower or the White House, and there was an amendment allowing libraries to copy works for free for further storage in electronic or paper form (a more or less detailed list of such amendments is here ) The amendments that were going to be made to the Civil Code were really unique, but it seems that we were happy early on.
The fact is that immediately after the publication of the preliminary version of the Civil Code as amended, many copyright holders began the active process of "reversing the river." Many organizations, individuals and associations of copyright holders began to impede the implementation of amendments in the final version of the Civil Code. Among writers, musicians and representatives of the film industry, Daria Dontsova took the most active part in the fight against amendments (well, her novels are the greatest value of our time), Andrei Makarevich, Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky and others.
Several open letters were written to the president of Russia (here is one of them), which seem to have their effect. The fact is that in the final list of amendments to the Civil Code there is no amendment on free copying of works for libraries. This was reported by Elena Pavlova , a member of the Council for the Codification and Improvement of Civil Law under the President of Russia. By the way, the open letter to the president contained an interesting phrase that the new amendments “cross out the very concept of the e-book market and open up virtually unlimited scope for piracy.”
It’s a pity if this amendment is not made - after all, besides the priceless bestsellers of the same Dontsova, libraries have very popular editions that are less than 70 years old (as far as I remember, a book can be digitized only after 70 years from the date of its publication), and which we all need so much. But what to do, now all this wealth will remain, apparently, in the repositories of libraries without the possibility of appearing in digital form.