Gasaway, Laura --- "Archiving and Preservation in US Copyright Law" [2010] ELECD 790; in Derclaye, Estelle (ed), "Copyright and Cultural Heritage" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Copyright and Cultural Heritage

Editor(s): Derclaye, Estelle

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849800044

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Archiving and Preservation in US Copyright Law

Author(s): Gasaway, Laura

Number of pages: 25

Extract:

6. Archiving and preservation in U.S.
copyright law
Laura Gasaway*

1. INTRODUCTION

Archival preservation is an issue of increasing importance around the
world. Despite the need to ensure the continued availability of culturally
important works and artifacts so that the history of society is preserved,
there are significant impediments. Countries are facing the loss of these
cultural assets due to deterioration, loss and sometimes destruction due
to war, natural disasters and even intentional ruination of these works.
If asked, most people would agree with the importance of preserving
archival collections since it is almost impossible to predict which materials
will become valuable to researchers in the future. Libraries, archives and
museums (LAMs) not only house these collections, but they are also best
situated to preserve these materials whether acting alone or within consor-
tia of cultural institutions. In the past, LAMs used a variety of methods
to preserve these works, often conserving the original object rather than
reproducing it. The preferred preservation method today, however, is digi-
tization. Not only does making a digital copy reduce wear and tear on the
original artifact, but digital copies have a number of important advantages
over other methods of reproduction for preservation.
Despite the need to ensure the continued availability of these works for
posterity, LAMs engaged in digital preservation confront myriad prob-
lems, not the least of which is copyright. In the United States, there have
been attempts to update the copyright law to facilitate digital preserva-
tion, but the task ...