[Web4lib] copyright and library home pages

[Grace J. Agnew]

It's a very interesting question, from a copyright standpoint.  
Compilations that display creativity in the choice, arrangement, etc. of 
information are copyrighted under the U.S. Code.  A bilbiography or 
database would be copyright protected, but not the phone book.  Without 
actually looking up the wording in the U.S. Code, I would say that there 
is a good chance that the organization could argue that it's arrangement 
of information is copyrighted.  However, I'm not sure whether the 
arrangement, without the information, is copyrighted. In case law 
examples that I can recall, the arranged information was always at 
issue, and not simply the structure of the arrangement.

 In the UK, publishers have a related right under copyright law to the 
layout and organization of a work that is for a shorter term than the 
copyright held by the work's creator. My recollection is that this right 
lasts 25 years from date of publication.  The UK also gives a limited 
related right under copyright to those who digitize public domain 
resources, (I think it is 10 years) to encourage organizations to 
digitize older materials.  I don't think there is an equivalent related 
right in the U.S., but this publication right seems most relevant to 
what you are asking.  

There's at least a chance that the structure would be copyrighted as a 
compliation, particularly if you are reusing navigation terminology, 
etc.  However, (1) I doubt that anyone would want to take you to court 
to establish precedent for such a murky issue and (b) I agree with Bill, 
just ask.  They will certainly give you permission.  If they don't, the 
copyright code is vague enough in this area that the risk they would sue 
you is very slim.   The most you are risking is that they would check to 
see if you copied them without permission and would send you a nasty note.

Grace Agnew

Drew, Bill wrote:
> Why don't you just ask them if it is okay to copy their design as a
> place for you to start improving your own webpages?
> You will probably get a yes from them.  I would answer that way.
> Bill Drew 
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Dawn Work MaKinne
> Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 3:38 PM
> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: [Web4lib] copyright and library home pages
>
> Our library website team has found another library's home page that does
> everything we want ours to do. 
>    
>   We don't want to copy any source code, scripting, text, colors,
> photographs, graphics, logos, etc.
>    
>   We do want to write our own code and create tables that mimic the
> structure and layout using our own logo, flash, colors, graphics and
> text, and place a drop down box in a similar place with our own
> cgi-scripting. The result may be a similar "look and feel" done with all
> of our own programming, text and design elements.
>    
>   Who knows enough about copyright to know how thin the ice is here? 
>    
>   Dawn
>   deworkmakinne at desmoineslibrary.com
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