Comments on: Europe aims to rival Google with digital library

European Commission plans to preserve citizens' "collective memory" by digitizing Europe's written and audiovisual heritage.

[Rusdude]

Unite

It'd be much simpler if EU, Google, Yahoo and other projects united.

[Rusdude]

Unite

It'd be much simpler if EU, Google, Yahoo and other projects united.

[spytrdr]

eulibrary

www.eulibrary.com
www.eulibraries.com

[spytrdr]

eulibrary

www.eulibrary.com
www.eulibraries.com

[hadaso]

They'll have to revise copyright laws

If they want whatever they are doing to be legal in their countries, they would probably have to revise their copyright laws. Otherwise almost everything written in the past century would not fit legally in their archives.

So iff this becomes something that the European Union is really involved in, their own legislators would become more aware of the need to reform copyright laws in ways that don't allow publishers to hold works hostage for (almost) eternity. And that would be good. Eventually legilators would have to rethink these laws and change them in ways that allow the "preservation of heritage" to commence in less than a century after it is created, while still allowing the very few who can actually profit from creation actually grab their bucket full of bucks (or Euros) while they can.

I don't think there is a need for just one archive. Competition is good, and it is also good for preservation to have several copies in several places. If the EU actually goes forward with this and creates the legal envioronment needed for their project to be successful, American legilators would have to respond with legislation that would allow American heritage to compete. This would probably be done the American way, i.e., by giving the private sector the right legal tools and environment (i.e. making the right legal environment to allow Google and Yahoo etc. to create their own archives and compete with each other and with the European project, and with other projects that would arise elsewhere (east Asia?)).

[hadaso]

They'll have to revise copyright laws

If they want whatever they are doing to be legal in their countries, they would probably have to revise their copyright laws. Otherwise almost everything written in the past century would not fit legally in their archives.

So iff this becomes something that the European Union is really involved in, their own legislators would become more aware of the need to reform copyright laws in ways that don't allow publishers to hold works hostage for (almost) eternity. And that would be good. Eventually legilators would have to rethink these laws and change them in ways that allow the "preservation of heritage" to commence in less than a century after it is created, while still allowing the very few who can actually profit from creation actually grab their bucket full of bucks (or Euros) while they can.

I don't think there is a need for just one archive. Competition is good, and it is also good for preservation to have several copies in several places. If the EU actually goes forward with this and creates the legal envioronment needed for their project to be successful, American legilators would have to respond with legislation that would allow American heritage to compete. This would probably be done the American way, i.e., by giving the private sector the right legal tools and environment (i.e. making the right legal environment to allow Google and Yahoo etc. to create their own archives and compete with each other and with the European project, and with other projects that would arise elsewhere (east Asia?)).