英文摘要 |
In Taiwan, archival institutions such as public libraries, museums, archives and many universities have been digitized through the National Digital Archives Project over the past decade. On the question of whether those contents may be made available for the public’s browsing on the premises of these institutions, the authority in charge, Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Office, interpreted that “fair use” can only be claimed when the reproduction is made out of necessity to preserve the material. By contrast, the European Union Directive on the harmonization of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (2001/29/EC) article 5 (3) n contains no such restriction, and allows for such public browsing on the institution’s premises. Hence, this paper started out from studying the European Union Directive and its implementation in Germany, and found that accessibility of digital archives data affects nationwide digital ability and digital competitiveness, and such public interests shall be balanced with the right owners’ interests. If the German practices wherein more restrictions are applicable are introduced into Taiwan, “fair use” would not be violated even without providing compensation. Moreover, reflecting on the development of technology over the past ten years, this paper suggests that a legal framework spurring technological innovations which allow the fruits of digitization to be shared online with viewers off premise shall be set up. Thus, the archival institutions can act as a bridge between right owners and users. |