Copyright Act 1.1.2008 (Germany)

[ctesibius]

Hi,
today I noticed a change in the Interlibrary Loan procedure in Germany. They refer to a Copyright Act starting from 1.1.2008 which restrict the delivery of works in digital format according with article 53 of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (UrhG).
Wiki page does not really help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_copyright_law. At the end of the article they mention the EU Copyright Directive 93/98/EEC, but I think this is unrelated.
Does anybody know about the "changes adopted in the Copyright Act"?

Thanks
Ctesibius

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Die von Bundestag und Bundesrat beschlossenen Änderungen im Urheberrechtsgesetz führen ab dem 01.01.2008 zu einer wesentlichen Einschränkung der Lieferbedingungen im bibliothekarischen Fernleihverkehr. Da § 53a UrhG die Voraussetzungen für die Lieferungen elektronischer Dokumente nur unbestimmt regelt, müssen die am Fernleihverkehr teilnehmenden Bibliotheken zunächst auf die elektronische Auslieferung verzichten. Aus diesem Grund wird es bis auf Weiteres von bestellten Aufsätzen nur noch Kopien als Papierausdruck in den Bibliotheken geben.
Technischer Hinweis: aufgrund der Einführung des Papier- und Postversands muss mit einer Verzögerung bei den Lieferzeiten gerechnet werden. Die damit verbundenen Nachteile bedauern wir sehr und bitten um Verständnis.
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Google Translates (quite poorly, sorry)

The Bundestag and Bundesrat result from the changes adopted in the Copyright Act the 01.01.2008 in a significant reduction in the supply conditions in the interlibrary loan librarian. Because § 53a UrhG the conditions for the delivery of electronic documents only vaguely conditions laid down by the participating libraries, interlibrary loan, first dispense with the electronic delivery. For this reason, it will, until further ordered by essays only as paper copies to give expression in the libraries.
Technical note: due to the introduction of paper and mail dispatch will be expected to delay the delivery. The drawbacks, we regret very much and appreciate your understanding.

[kalliwoda]

Let me try to come up with a better translation:

The Changes to the Copyright Act the 01.01.2008, as adopted by Bundestag and Bundesrat result in a significant reduction in the conditions of interlibrary loan. Because § 53a UrhG does not clearly specify conditions for the delivery of electronic documents by the participating libraries, electronic delivery of documents will be temporarily suspended. Until further notice only paper copies of the requested articles will be available.
Technical note: Due to the introduction of mail dispatch for these paper copies, delays of delivery will have to be expected. We regret these conditions very much and appreciate your understanding.


I am not sure, why these measures are being introduced now, two years after the law was adopted...

[Carolus]

Interesting. I've read some complaints in US publishers' trade association newsletters about very broad interpretation of "fair use" by libraries in parts of the EU. Perhaps the change is a result of similar complaints from German publishers, who apparently have quite a lot of influence. Baerenreiter was essentially bailed out of bankruptcy about 20 years ago by the German government (back in the days when I worked for their US agent) - something quite unimaginable for a US publisher.

BTW, what is the status of Rachmaninoff in Germany? Under the EU's application of "Rule of the Shorter Term", his work should be free there (and elsewhere in the EU) for the most part. The exception might be the works that are still protected in the USA, as his country of origin is probably the USA from 1918 forward. These works would most likely fall under the series of bi-lateral treaties between the USA and various EU countries (France, Germany, UK, etc.) dating back to 1891. The works from before 1918 are Russian in origin, where he is also PD (having died before 1953).

[kalliwoda]

Re: Rachmaninoff
Not very likely, that Boosey & Hawkes Deutschland will relinquish the rights to Rachmaninoff...Just played the 1. Sinfonie, and the orchestra had to pay GEMA and rental costs.
I just checked with a search on the page of GEMA and all 3 symphonies are still listed (I guess until Jan 1, 2014). Rule of the shorter term, if it is EU law, apparently has not been implemented by GEMA yet.