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MARC Proposal No. 2008-02DATE: December 17, 2007
REVISED:
NAME: Definition of field 542 for information related to copyright status in the MARC 21 bibliographic format
SOURCE: California Digital Library
SUMMARY: This paper proposes the addition of a new field 542 to carry information relating to copyright status determination. The information included are the primary ones used by Berne Convention signatories when making a copyright assessment of a work. The purpose of the data elements is to save the time of users when pertinent facts are known to the cataloging agency, and to avoid duplication of effort in the gathering of information on the part of the library or archive.
KEYWORDS: Copyright information; Copyright status; Field 542 (BD); Terms governing use and reproduction note (BD)
STATUS/COMMENTS:
12/17/2007 - Made available to the MARC community for discussion.
02/14/2008 - Results of the MARC Advisory Committee discussion - Approved as amended. The first indicator will be defined as "Privacy" with the following values: # (No information provided); 0 (Private); 1 (Not private). Subfield $a will be defined as nonrepeatable. Subfield $h will be defined as repeatable and more examples of subfield $h will be added to the documentation. Subfield $r will be defined as "Jurisdiction of copyright assessment."
02/14/2008 - Results of LC/LAC/BL review - Approved
When users want to make use of a digital resource, they have to know certain information to assess the copyright status of the work in order to make a reasonable judgment about what use is allowed. The tradition of library cataloging has not included the recording of information relating to the copyright facts of works, except when that information is included for other purposes, such as the date "c2004" representing the copyright date when the publication date is not available. The MARC 21 format has no fields for recording a copyright statement. The note field "Restrictions on Access Note" (MARC 21 field 506) can be used to indicate a variety of access restrictions, either in terms of the contractual arrangement with the donor of an archive or for materials whose access is limited to a certain class of users. The note field "Terms Covering Use and Reproduction" (MARC 21 field 540) can be used to record terms that apply once access has been obtained. Neither of these notes allows the recording of any detailed information about the copyright status of the work. Field 017 (Copyright or Legal Deposit Number) is also available for a copyright registration or legal deposit number, although not all copyrighted works would have such a number.
Determination of copyright status is difficult. Although some regularly published items contain a copyright statement, the bulk of works in archives and on the Internet contain little information to support a copyright determination. Where information is available that contribute to a determination, it would useful to record it in metadata records to avoid duplication of effort later on. Adding such information to the record would be optional; providing a way to do this allows for recording it when it is available. Often this metadata will be scant; however providing users with what the library or archive does know about the copyright status of the work is an essential service.
The US Copyright Office records may be an authoritative source for some of this information for works copyrighted in the US in the cases where copyright was registered. The US Copyright Office has made its catalog of copyright records available to the public (http://www.copyright.gov/records/), although this will not be comprehensive in that it depends upon the year of publication/creation as to whether there will likely be a record. In addition, since not all items are registered and because of the changes in the copyright laws, copyright records will not always exist. Other countries may have similar databases that may provide reliable information about copyright.
The MARC Advisory Committee has discussed the issue of adding data elements to the MARC 21 bibliographic format to determine copyright status, first in Discussion Paper No. 2006-DP04, presented to the MARC community in June 2006, and then in Discussion Paper No. 2007-DP05, discussed in June 2007. In the first paper, participants questioned whether a field in the MARC 21 bibliographic format was appropriate for carrying copyright information, given the possible complexities when various rights are held by multiple bodies and suggested a broader consideration of different national copyright laws. In the 2007 paper, the group expressed a preference for a separate 5XX field for this copyright information if a new field were defined, instead of using field 540 (Terms Governing Use and Reproduction Note), although there was some concern about how such a new field might interact with field 540.
2.1. Data elements
Of the data elements needed to support a copyright determination of a work, some are already available in bibliographic records, although the use of these data elements for bibliographic description may not be the same as is needed to describe copyright-related facts. For example cataloging rules may determine whether both the publication and copyright date is included. AACR2 specifies recording the copyright date only when the publication date is unknown and a recent LCRI discontinued the practice of adding the copyright date (indicated by "c" preceding the date) when it is different from the publication date. In the case of copyright renewal, the dates are not the same and both may need to be recorded.
Based on the analysis done by the Rights Management Group of the California Digital Library (see www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/rights/ and www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/coyle/index.html), the key data elements to support a copyright assessment are:
This assumes a copyright law derived from the Berne Convention, which bases copyright duration on the life of the author. Nationality of the author and country of publication are used by Berne Convention signatories to address works of foreign origin. Within individual countries, actual copyright law will differ, but the core facts that support copyright remain those of Berne. If a work published in one country is used another, the copyright law of the country where it is used is in force, although because of Berne Convention agreements, one country will usually respect another's copyright law. This may vary in specific countries. However, the data elements shown here do not refer to law per se but to the acts and actors of intellectual property rights.
These data elements have some overlap with the descriptive metadata elements in the current MARC 21 format, although differences exist in how the similar data elements are used and under what circumstances.
Administrative data elements that may also be needed are:
2.2. Definition of a new field for copyright information
A new field 542 could be defined to enable recording this information in the MARC 21 bibliographic format. The field would be repeated whenever adding new information (along with the date the new data was added) so as to keep a history of copyright status in the record. Although field 540 may include some data about copyright information, where there is overlap, it should be repeated and appropriately parsed into applicable subfields in field 542 so that all the data needed to make a copyright determination remains together.
It may be difficult to establish specific rules for recording information in this field, since there is not a set of rules that would work in all cases, since circumstances differ. Because the purpose of the field is to record the results of any research performed to determine copyright facts, it would be useful to specify when a particular fact is unknown, although there was an attempt to find out. For instance, if there was an attempt to determine the copyright holder, and it was not successful, recording "unknown" or "undetermined" in the appropriate subfield would be useful for someone encountering the record. The date ($o) that the information is recorded should always be included in the field so that users may assess the currency of the data, as should the jurisdiction (country in $r) under which the copyright assessment is being made.
Copyright status ($l) may explicitly state whether a resource is in the public domain, but in many circumstances an institution would not want to make a statement here, unless it is certain.
Define field 542 with the following subfields to carry information related to copyright status determination:
542 - Information relating to copyright status (R)
Information known about the item that may be used to determine copyright status.
Indicators
First - Undefined
Second - Undefined
Subfield Codes
$a - Personal creator (R)
$b - Personal creator death date (NR)
$c - Corporate creator (R)
$d - Copyright holder (R)
$e - Copyright holder contact information (R)
$g - Copyright date (NR)
For items under copyright, the initial year of copyright.
$h - Copyright renewal date (NR)
The year that the copyright was renewed.
$i - Publication date (NR)
For published items, the year it was published.
$j - Creation date (NR)
For unpublished items, the year the item was created.
The copyright statement as it is written on the piece.
$f - Copyright statement (R)
$k - Publisher (R)
$m - Publication status (NR)
Indicates whether the item is published or unpublished, using definition of
published in copyright law of the jurisdiction, or that expressed in Berne
if other definitions are not available.
$p - Country of publication or creation (R)
$l - Copyright status (NR)
The determined status of the item, selected from [list], or "undetermined"
$n - Note (R)
Any additional information about copyright.
$o - Research date (NR)
The date that the copyright data was determined. A structured form of date is
recommended.
$q - Assigning agency (NR)
Contains a code or name of agency supplying the information.
$r - Copyright jurisdiction (NR)
The country within which the copyright status assessment is being made. The law
of the country within which the resource is used is the relevant one for copyright purposes.
$s - Source of information (NR)
The source of the copyright information, whether from the piece or from
other sources.
$u - Uniform Resource Identifier (R)
The Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), for example a URL or URN, which
provides electronic access data in a standard syntax. The data may be a
more detailed statement about information relating to copyright status.
$3 - Materials specified (NR)
$6 - Linkage (NR)
$8 - Field link and sequence number (R)
Note that appropriate displays will be determined by the institution providing them; those indicated below are possible, but details may vary.
4.1 Books
Example 1.
245 10 $a Moby-Dick, or, The whale / $c by Herman Melville
260 $a Vintage Books/The Library of America $d 1991
542 $a Said, Edward W. $d Said, Edward W. $f Introduction copyright 1991 by
Edward W Said $g 1991 $o 20070526 $r US $3 Introduction
542 $c Literary Classics of the United States $f Chronology, Note on the Text,
and Notes copyright 1983 by Literary Classics of the United States, Inc.
New York, N.Y. $g 1983 $o 20070526 $p US $r US $3 Chronology, Note on the Text, Notes
Example 2.Title: Moby-Dick, or, The whale / by Herman Melville
Publisher: Vintage books/The Library of America, 1991
Copyright statement: Introduction copyright 1991 by Edward W Said
Copyright statement: Chronology, Note on the Text, and Notes copyright 1983 by Literary Classics of the United States, Inc. New York, N.Y.
Example 3.Possible display:
Author: Martin, Henri Jean, 1924-
Uniform Title: [Histoire et pouvoirs de l'ecrit. English]
Title: The history and power of writing / Henri-Jean Martin ; translated by Lydia G. Cochrane.
Publisher: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1994
Copyright statement: Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago
Jurisdiction: US
Possible display:Title: Letters of Matthew Arnold, 1848-1888 / collected and arranged by George W.E. Russell
Publisher: London, Macmillan, 1895
Copyright status: Public domain
Copyright statement: Copyright 1895
Source of information: Evidence reported by scanner-scott-cairns for item lettersofmaththew01arnouoft; visible notice of copyright; stated date is 1895
Jurisdiction: US
Country of publication:GB
4.2 Images
Example 1Possible display:Example 2.Author: Rockwell, Norman
Title: The country agricultural agent
Copyright statement: copyright 1948 SEPS
Copyright date: 1948
Jurisdiction: US
Possible display:Title: View of Main Street
Date of creation: 1905?
Creator: undetermined
Copyright holder: undetermined
Copyright status: undetermined
Publication status: undetermined
Jurisdiction: US
4.3. Cartographic material
Example 1.
100 1 $a Goldie, James.
245 10 $a Map of pioneer Hartford : $b founded 1636, incorporated 1784, showing early landmarks and the locations of historical events / $c designed by James and Ruth Goldie.
260 $a [S.l. : $b s.n., $c 1927]
500 $a "Copyright 1927 by James and Ruth Goldie."
542 $a Goldie, James $d Goldie, James $d Goldie, Ruth $f Copyright 1927 by James and Ruth Goldie $g 1927 $i 1927 $n Copyright not renewed $o 20071204 $q DLC $r US $s US Copyright Office records
Possible display:
Author: Goldie, James
Title: Map of pioneer Hartford : founded 1636, incorporated 1784, showing early landmarks and the locations of historical events / designed by James and Ruth Goldie.
Publisher: Unknown
Copyright Holder: Goldie, James; Goldie, Ruth
Copyright statement: Copyright 1927 by James and Ruth Goldie
Copyright date: 1927
Publication date: 1927
Copyright note: Copyright not renewed
Source of information: US Copyright Office records
Jurisdiction: US
Note: Copyright not renewed
Example 2.
110 1 $a Great Britain. $b War Office. $b General Staff Geological Survey.
245 10 $a Central Europe 1:100,000; $b Road Overprint.
260 $a London, $c 1944-
542 $a Great Britain. $b War Office. $b General Staff Geological Survey.$g 1944 $i 1944- $k Great Britain. War Office. General Staff Geological Survey. $l Public domain $n Covered by British Crown Copyright $o 20071212 $p GB $q DLC $r US
Possible display:
Author: Great Britain. War Office. General Staff Geological Survey
Title: Central Europe 1:100,000; Road Overprint.
Publisher: Great Britain. War Office. General Staff Geological Survey.
Copyright Holder:
Copyright statement:
Copyright date: 1944
Publication date: 1944-
Copyright Status: Public domain
Copyright note:
Jurisdiction: US
Country of Publication/Creation: GB
Note: Covered by British Crown Copyright
4.4 Films
017 $a LP7892 $b U.S. Copyright OfficePossible display:Title: Accidents will happen / Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. present ; directed by William Clemens ; screen play by George Bricker and Anthony Coldewey [sic]
Copyright date: 1937
Copyright holder: undetermined
Copyright statement: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.; 23Dec37; LP7892n
Copyright status: undetermined
Jurisdiction: US
4.5 Music
Example 1.Possible display:Example 2.Title: Peter go ring dem bells : Negro spiritual / arranged by Florence B. Price.
Copyright date: 1964
Copyright holder:undetermined
Copyright statement: undetermined
Copyright status: undetermined
Possible display:Title: Symphonia serena [sound recording] ; Symphonie "Die Harmonie der Welt" / Hindemith.
Copyright date: 2000
Copyright holder: Decca
Copyright statement: undetermined
Copyright status: undetermined
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