National Library of Sweden Signs Memorandum Of Understanding Opening Door For World’s First Agreement On Extended Licensing Governing Cross-Border Remote Access

From the National Library of Sweden:

The National Library of Sweden has entered into a memorandum of understanding regarding the principles which will form the basis for an extended collective licence agreement with the collective management organisations Copyswede (Sweden) and Kopiosto (Finland) in order to make cross-border remote access possible. This will be the first of its type in the world.
The National Library of Sweden commenced a national pilot program during the year – which was expanded in September through cooperation with Åbo Akademi – with the aim of providing researchers and educators with digital access to the National Library’s audio-visual materials and, ultimately, also to its printed materials. This cooperation is unique because the access is intended to occur across borders via remote access and will be based on extended collective licensing agreements.
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The National Library’s on-going pilot project is intended to create a system in which researchers throughout Sweden, and eventually in Finland as well, will be able to access audio-visual material which is streamed over the Internet. Such interlibrary loans currently take place by saving a copy of the digital material on physical media, which is then sent via the post. Making the material available through streaming via the Internet will save significant time both for the researcher and the staff of the library.
Many questions remain to be solved before a fully-fledged service can be launched. The pilot project is intended to make it possible for the National Library, in cooperation with the researchers and the right holders’ organizations, to generate solutions to the problems which may arise.

Read the Complete Announcement
Hat Tip and Thanks: IFRRO (International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO)
 

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