Re: Prospero, transient copies, and copyright

On Wed, Jan 05, 2000, Michael Seadle <seadle[_at_]mail.lib.msu.edu> wrote:
>
> Our library is looking at an attractive software package (Prospero),
> which allows us to deliver Interlibrary Loan documents more or less
> directly to a patron's desktop -- which we'd very much like to do.
>
> As I understand it (second hand), the software puts a TIF image of a
> document into PDF form, loads it into a (presumably password-protected)
> temporary space on a Web server, and notifies the patron via email were
> to get the PDF file.
 

Does Prospero state that the PDF file is in fact printable, or does their software lock out printing and editing when it saves the PDF file? (Perhaps this will make a difference when considering if the copying is an infringement.)

Does Prospero have any system for payment to the Copyright Clearance Center as with photocopying? (Seems to me that one might treat this just as a library photocopying a book for interlibrary loan. The only difference might be that digital copies are easier to make, without royalty to the copyright owner, so some mechanism, no matter how slight, might need to be introduced to try to head off the pirating of the work, just to satisfy the copyright owner in case she becomes troubled about the practice. If a good analogy with a current practice such as photocopying can be established, this might avoid disagreements later. Since it costs a small amount to photocopy the work, a small payment to the CCC might be warranted in the case of an analogous copying on the web.)

Eric Eldred
<eldred[_at_]eldritchpress.org> Received on Fri Jan 07 2000 - 00:12:10 GMT