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Declaration
Calls For
Changes To
Intellectual
Property Law,
Equal Access
To Knowledge
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Over
50 organisations
have signed The
Hague
Declaration on
Knowledge
Discovery in the
Digital Age,
which calls for
immediate changes
to intellectual
property (IP) law
and the removal of
other barriers
preventing widened
and more equal
access to data.
Improved treatments
for diseases,
answers to global
issues such as
climate change and
billions in
government savings
are among the
potential benefits
to be gained, if the
principles outlined
in the Declaration
are adopted by
governments,
businesses and
society.
The Declaration
asserts that
copyright was never
designed to regulate
the sharing of
facts, data and
ideas ‒ nor should
it. The right to
receive and impart
information and
ideas is guaranteed
by the Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights but the
modern application
of IP law often
limits this right,
even when these most
simple building
blocks of knowledge
are used.
The rapidly
changing digital
environment,
increased
computing power
and the sheer
quantity of data
being produced
makes it essential
for researchers
and society to be
able to use modern
techniques and
tools to help them
make new
discoveries.
Research practices
could be
revolutionised and
lives could
literally be
saved, if we can
achieve better
access to the
knowledge
contained within
Big Data, said
Kristiina
Hormia-Poutanen,
President of LIBER,
the Association of
European Research
Libraries, which has
led work to develop
the Declaration.
A new approach to
knowledge discovery
is critical at a
time when society is
facing a literal
data deluge. The
digital universe, or
the data we create
and copy annually,
is doubling in size
every two years and
is expected to reach
44 trillion
gigabytes by 2020.
In addition to
clarity around the
scope of IP law, a
skills gap and a
lack of
infrastructure must
also be addressed if
computers are to be
better employed to
extract and
recombine data in
order to identify
patterns and trends.
This process, known
as Content Mining,
is widely recognised
as the only way to
deal effectively
with Big Data.
Given the
need to make sense
of the
ever-expanding
literature and
derive new
insights, the
Wellcome Trust
strongly supports
the right of
researchers to
mine content to
which they already
have lawful
access. The Hague
Declaration is an
important step in
demonstrating the
common vision that
knowledge
discovery and
reuse should not
be constrained by
existing legal
frameworks and
uncertainty. In
particular, we are
advocating for
reform of
copyright law at
European level to
permit data and
text mining for
all uses, both
commercial and
non-commercial, said
Will Greenacre,
Policy Officer at The
Wellcome Trust.
Organisations and
individuals who wish
to support the
Declaration can add
their signature on
the official
website,www.thehaguedeclaration.com.
In so doing, they
will officially
recognise the huge
potential for
knowledge discovery
whilst also
acknowledging that
steps need to be
taken to ensure that
everyone can benefit
from this
potential.
Further
Information:
- See the
Declaration
website -www.thehaguedeclaration.com -
to read the full
text of the
Declaration and
download an
accompanying
infographic.
- Contact LIBER,
the Association
of European
Research
Libraries, which
has been leading
the work to
develop the
Declaration: liber@kb.nl
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You are receiving this
email because you asked
to be kept updated on
developments with The
Hague Declaration.
Our mailing
address is:
Hague
Declaration
c/o
LIBER Europe
PO
Box 90407
The
Hague,
2509
LK
Netherlands
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