Re: Copyright of previous public domain

[Shirley Lambert <SLambert@scarecrowpress.com>]

I think the issue here might be the copyright on the format of the
material rather than on the content itself. The vendor has spent the money
to digitize and presumably index the material, and the argument can be
made that such effort is protected.

--
Shirley Lambert
Associate Publisher and Editorial Director
Scarecrow Press
4720 Boston Way
Lanham, MD  20706
W. 301-459-3366 x5304
F. 301-429-5747

___

"Lofts, Kalletta Kathleen" wrote:

> I am currently negotiating with an electronic database vendor who has
> included in their license copyright restrictions on government documents
> that were previous public domain in print form.  The vendor argues that
> all contents of their database are copyrighted, and do not want to delete
> like license clause.  This concerns me because our patrons are used to
> these documented being free from copyright.  But even more distressing -
> this issue brings up a bigger problem of third party copyright
> restrictions of any electronic contents, and whether libraries can fight
> that.
>
> I would like to know how anyone has handled a similar case, and especially
> if anyone has been able to get electronic content vendors to changes such
> restrictions.  What was the outcome, and how have you handled this sort of
> third party copyright restriction of electronic content?
>
> Thanks,
> Kalletta Lofts