New copyright tools for the digital age
Jinfo Blog

By Penny Crossland

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The rejection of the Google Books Settlement in March this year, along with the proposed Book Rights registry, meant that Michael Healy, the director designate of the registry, had become available for new ventures in the publishing sector. The Google Books Scanning project’s loss became the Copyright Clearing Center’s gain, when in late September it was announced that Healy had accepted the new post of executive director for author and public relations.

Publishers Weekly reported at the time that part of Healy’s remit was to work on CCC’s business models “to accommodate things like backlist rights and the lack of clarity in eBook rights”.  Healy will also be busy fulfilling CCC’s mission of designing “solutions of rights in an increasingly complex digital environment”.

It would seem that Healy’s appointment comes at a crucial time and amidst intense discussion – ongoing for several years – over the need to make copyright laws fit for purpose in the digital age. A topic, by the way, that LiveWire contributors have been following for some time.

So, while the law makers and industry stakeholders cannot agree on the issue, rights licensing bodies such as the Copyright Clearing Center have been devising solutions to help publishers with monetising their content via new platforms, and to enable users to share content efficiently and legally.

Information Today alerted us this week to CCC’s new licensing tool for iPad or iPhone applications for its RightsLink Plus service. A “get permissions” button within the app takes users to a CCC link in the RightsLink service and allows them to share licensed content with colleagues, all without leaving the rightsholder’s website.

Another licensing service, iCopyright, has launched a content management system plugin aimed at bloggers using WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. With this tool, bloggers are able to protect their content from "copy and pasters" and make money from it. The tool includes a syndication, share, promotion and sell option and is seen as a boon to small time publishers wishing to protect their content.

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