Copyright: Interpreting the Law for Libraries, Archives and Information Services (5th edition)

Citation

Miles‐Campbell, J. (2010), "Copyright: Interpreting the Law for Libraries, Archives and Information Services (5th edition)", Library Review, Vol. 59 No. 8, pp. 644-646. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531011073209

Copyright: Interpreting the Law for Libraries, Archives and Information Services (5th edition), first published in 1990, is now into its fifth edition. The book's purpose, according to the author's note, is “to set out the basics of UK copyright law, concentrating on those areas which may affect librarians and archivists in their daily work”. Many will be familiar with previous editions, and, unsurprisingly, there is no change to its format of short, direct answers to common questions, with some useful brief examples. Most of the answers are a short paragraph in length, but they do vary from a single word to a half‐page paragraph.

The fourth edition in 2004 was a major revision, a significant update as a result of the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003; however, the fifth edition is a more subtle update, with only minor changes to the landscape of the law. The biggest change is the addition of sections on creative commons and other open licences, and consideration of the copyright issues in relation to social networking and web 2.0 sites. In keeping with the succinct nature of the work, however, the explanation of the creative commons licences only runs to four short paragraphs, and without mention of attribution, share‐alike, no derivatives, and porting, for example.

The book is presented in 12 sections, the first three introducing the fundamental concepts of copyright law, the following six covering the various types of protected work, and the final three dealing with licences, the information technology world, and a final section on miscellany. The index has sufficient detail to make finding the relevant answer straightforward, though getting to know the book makes contextualising the short answers easier. The change to a system of paragraph numbering which includes the section number (unlike the previous edition) helps with locating the answer within the context of the whole work.

There is always the issue in relation to copyright law as to whether a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but I think Cornish has been careful not to make superficial statements about the complex, or to make sweeping generalisations about issues which do require a thought‐out risk decision. As such, it is not likely to be of much help in dealing with “grey area” issues in copyright law: for example, in relation to whether there are any guidelines on the quantity of a work which might be classed as “substantial”, paragraph 3.36 merely states “Not really. Each case must be a matter of professional judgement”. In fairness to the book's stated aim, such risk decisions might be taken to be beyond the scope of “the basics”, and this might also explain why the appendix giving examples of what might or might not be commercial or non‐commercial has been omitted from the new edition.

In keeping it clear and to‐the‐point, the text is uncluttered with references – again a pay‐off which allows the book to be a concise 194 pages of text, but which makes it more difficult for the reader to research further. Short appendices contain details of “Useful addresses” and “Selected sources of further information” – at least a starting place, though general in nature.

For many librarians, archivists, and other information professionals, a concise and accessible collection of answers to common questions will be worth having within arm's reach. There is some focus on the particular context, though in truth the vast majority of the work would be relevant to anyone faced with a copyright issue.

As with previous editions, the book gives succinct, accurate answers to those copyright questions that have been answered. It avoids debate and speculation, and cuts to the crux. As such, the book probably falls into a middle ground on the bookshelf – a beginner wishing to come to grips with copyright might be better with a more discursive work, rather than trying to piece together an understanding built on one or two sentence answers; and someone wrestling with the nuances of risk in less definite areas of copyright may want a more comprehensive text as a reference. Owners of previous editions might ask whether it is worth shelling out another £45, or £36 to CILIP members, for this updated Facet publication. That is likely to depend on how important the expanded sections on copyright and websites, social networking, and open licences are to the reader.