Use of DDC in web displays

[Jerry Kuntz]

On our KidsClick! main page (http://www.kidsclick.org), we have a link towards the bottom that leads to an alternate image of the main page labeled "What does this page look like through a Librarian's Eyes?",
(http://www.kidsclick.org/dewey.html)
This was presented more in a spirit of play than as a serious navigational device, although we've heard of people using that way.

Yesterday I received a very pleasantly written license notice from OCLC Forest Press; the stern part, however, noted:

"Regarding KidsClick's current use of Dewey, our standard licensing policy requires libraries who wish to use the DDC Summaries (the first three levels of the DDC, e.g., 500 Science, 510 Mathematics, 513 Arithmetic) on their Web site to be current subscribers to an electronic version of the DDC, either Dewey for Windows or WebDewey in CORC. We also require that such display of Dewey numbers and captions reflect the latest edition of the DDC, and carry notice of our copyrights and trademarks."

We're prepared to do the right thing, but I just wonder how this claim applies to our site and not to web-based catalogs that include Dewey call number displays and search capabilities. Anyone have a clue what the legal distinction would be?

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Jerry Kuntz
Electronic Resources Consultant
Ramapo Catskill Library System
jkuntz at rcls.org
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