NATIONAL HUMANITIES ALLIANCE

BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

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PRINCIPLE 3

3. Copyright laws should encourage enhanced ease of compliance rather than increasingly punitive enforcement measures.

The law should create an environment that provides incentives for simplified rights clearance and payment while preserving the principle of fair use contained in current law. Burdensome and inconclusive permissions systems may stifle dissemination of copyrighted works or encourage widespread violation of the law, as may undue constriction of fair use exemptions. In extending copyright law and practice to the digital environment, care should be taken that the creation of new rights does not become a disincentive to the circulation of information.

• Copyright law should provide a framework for voluntary contractual agreements that both provide fair returns to copyright owners and create incentives for broad dissemination of information. The law should not permit such contracts to abrogate fundamental legal guarantees, however.
• The law should permit the fair use defense in a contractual environment. At the same time, the law should encourage the application of fair use principles to digital works in a manner that maintains respect for the rights of copyright owners consistent with the provisions of current statute.
• The development and use of automated rights tracking, security technologies, and licensing mechanisms may reduce incentives for many kinds of infringement while simultaneously facilitating enhanced access to copyrighted works of others. Copyright law should encourage such innovations.
• Careful consideration should be given to the advantages and disadvantages of compulsory licensing schemes which require copyright owners to permit certain kinds of uses of their properties and automatically collect fees to pay for such use. Compulsory licensing provisions are already in effect for the broadcast of audio recordings of music. Broader application of this concept has not been thoroughly discussed, and it is premature to advocate for or against such a system for digital works.