Petition for OCLC to Collaboratively Re-write Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records
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Author:
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Send To:
OCLC Members and Any-All WorldCat Users (whether members or not)
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Sponsored By:
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Petition Background Information
OCLC staff members were directed by the OCLC Board of Trustees to write an updated OCLC record use policy in 2008, in order to replace the 1987 OCLC Guidelines for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records. The rewritten policy restricts the use and transfer of OCLC member-created cataloging records, which form the basic content of the OCLC WorldCat database, as well as restricting compilations of records that might replicate WorldCat in various features and functions. The new policy, as written, is legally binding and causes present and future litigation risk to members. The eight components of this petition, following the rationale below, state that this new record use policy should be rescinded and rewritten collaboratively with OCLC members and others. The rationale for this petition is as follows:
The policy review and re-writing process was flawed from the outset by including only OCLC staff in the research, investigation, and writing. OCLC is a member-driven organization, this policy affects all members, but none were included in its authorship. Because of this, the policy does not reflect the will of the members. Furthermore, it puts members at legal risk of contract violation, since the policy is a legal document and members have no control over how their records are used downstream over time. Given the many questions and unknowns in the legal nature and enforcement of the current policy, by OCLC over time, and the informal nature of the FAQ which is supposed to aid in interpretation but can change over time as well, this puts members at untenable risk of litigation.
Since the policy, in its current form, prohibits any use that substantially replicates the function, purpose, and/or size of WorldCat this relegates mass use of records in OCLC to only corporate OCLC, and prohibits any future possible innovative uses of records, by individual libraries or consortial groups of libraries or other cultural agents/agencies.
OCLC has, without permission and without consultation, told member libraries in a legally binding contract what they can and cannot do with the records that they have contributed, and for which member libraries have copyright. This is not permissible, not legally defensible, and is not conducive or supportive in any way to OCLCs role as a member-driven organization.
It is inappropriate, as well as detrimental to members, for OCLC to use the restriction of member-input records as a method to provide for the continuing economic viability of corporate OCLC.
Therefore, We, the undersigned, do hereby request that OCLC:
1.) Remove the currently rewritten OCLC Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records and FAQ from consideration as a policy statement;
2.) Form a truly representative group of OCLC members, non-members, and other cataloging service entities to review the 1987 policy in light of the current environment;
3.) Collaboratively work with this representative group and all OCLC members and others to re-write the 1987 OCLC Guidelines for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records as a voluntary policy, not a legally binding document;
4.) State the basic premise of free and open access for all to member-contributed OCLC cataloging records;
5.) Acknowledge that these records are the property of their respective contributing members, and cannot by copyrighted or restricted in use by OCLC except for those services, records, and the WorldCat database features which OCLC has created/contributed;
6.) Maintain transparency and communication of group work during the re-writing process, via a website or other methods;
7.) Provide, consider, and act upon periodic requests for input on the policy from OCLC members and others;
8.) Present the final guideline to all OCLC member institutions, OCLC Members Council, and all others, and request final OCLC membership and Member Council ratification and approval of the guideline.
OCLC staff members were directed by the OCLC Board of Trustees to write an updated OCLC record use policy in 2008, in order to replace the 1987 OCLC Guidelines for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records. The rewritten policy restricts the use and transfer of OCLC member-created cataloging records, which form the basic content of the OCLC WorldCat database, as well as restricting compilations of records that might replicate WorldCat in various features and functions. The new policy, as written, is legally binding and causes present and future litigation risk to members. The eight components of this petition, following the rationale below, state that this new record use policy should be rescinded and rewritten collaboratively with OCLC members and others. The rationale for this petition is as follows:
The policy review and re-writing process was flawed from the outset by including only OCLC staff in the research, investigation, and writing. OCLC is a member-driven organization, this policy affects all members, but none were included in its authorship. Because of this, the policy does not reflect the will of the members. Furthermore, it puts members at legal risk of contract violation, since the policy is a legal document and members have no control over how their records are used downstream over time. Given the many questions and unknowns in the legal nature and enforcement of the current policy, by OCLC over time, and the informal nature of the FAQ which is supposed to aid in interpretation but can change over time as well, this puts members at untenable risk of litigation.
Since the policy, in its current form, prohibits any use that substantially replicates the function, purpose, and/or size of WorldCat this relegates mass use of records in OCLC to only corporate OCLC, and prohibits any future possible innovative uses of records, by individual libraries or consortial groups of libraries or other cultural agents/agencies.
OCLC has, without permission and without consultation, told member libraries in a legally binding contract what they can and cannot do with the records that they have contributed, and for which member libraries have copyright. This is not permissible, not legally defensible, and is not conducive or supportive in any way to OCLCs role as a member-driven organization.
It is inappropriate, as well as detrimental to members, for OCLC to use the restriction of member-input records as a method to provide for the continuing economic viability of corporate OCLC.
Therefore, We, the undersigned, do hereby request that OCLC:
1.) Remove the currently rewritten OCLC Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records and FAQ from consideration as a policy statement;
2.) Form a truly representative group of OCLC members, non-members, and other cataloging service entities to review the 1987 policy in light of the current environment;
3.) Collaboratively work with this representative group and all OCLC members and others to re-write the 1987 OCLC Guidelines for the Use and Transfer of OCLC-Derived Records as a voluntary policy, not a legally binding document;
4.) State the basic premise of free and open access for all to member-contributed OCLC cataloging records;
5.) Acknowledge that these records are the property of their respective contributing members, and cannot by copyrighted or restricted in use by OCLC except for those services, records, and the WorldCat database features which OCLC has created/contributed;
6.) Maintain transparency and communication of group work during the re-writing process, via a website or other methods;
7.) Provide, consider, and act upon periodic requests for input on the policy from OCLC members and others;
8.) Present the final guideline to all OCLC member institutions, OCLC Members Council, and all others, and request final OCLC membership and Member Council ratification and approval of the guideline.
171 Signatures
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Barbara D
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Peter K
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- В
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Terry S. L
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Robert S
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- It is because of antics like this, that if I had the capital and expertise I would create my own competition to OCLC.
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Scott D
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Liza D
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Carol P
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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nicolas m
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- i work in open source software and I very much feel like this proposed policy restricts my ability to "do stuff" with library records.
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Jenny L
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- This move is the antithesis of what libraries stand for.
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Nicole C E
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- I have in the past contributed thousands of records to OCLC and want them shared!
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Claire C
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- В
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Benjamin C
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- This is a step backward for public service and accessibility. It is narrow and it is wrong.
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Chris V
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Marijane W
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- I am a regular user of WorldCat.org
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Robert G
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Timothy W
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Fern R
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Robert M
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- No single entity should have exclusive control of a database created by thousands of independent libraries working in cooperation.
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carlos l
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Laura E
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- Mostly we do copy cataloging but we have done some original records over the years.
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Jessica G
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Jean B
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Coral H
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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April M
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- I am a MLIS student at the University of Pittsburgh
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Lou M
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Amy S
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Rita C
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Jennifer B
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Melissa D
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- The records in Worldcat are the intellectual property of the catalogers who created them, or in some cases their employers. They have chosen to share them, and OCLC has no legal or moral right to assert ownership over those records.
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Stephen S. C
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Danielle Cunniff P
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- This represents my own opinion, not necessarily that of my employer.
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Amy H
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- Minuteman Library Network, Massachusetts
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Rita E
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Jay R
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Sarah N
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Mitzi T
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- Previously and perhaps in future will work in a member institution
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Miguel G
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Dominic M
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Carol C
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Laura C
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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James D H
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Mike L
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Lori T
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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Jonathan R
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- My opinions on this matter here registered may not be those of my employer.
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Johanna W
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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weixaxs
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- [URL=http://gwhuuc.info]hqaooki[/URL] fwtufnt http://rxgageu.info ipfhtwd fwtufnt (a href="http://jlejnl.info")hvrheoa(/a)
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Shannon A
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- Minuteman Library Network, Massachusetts
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Catherine J. W
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- The library community, especially those who created the MARC records in the first place, is declaring that OCLC has no right to claim an exclusive license for work it did not create. The reality of the situation is that the majority of MARC records were paid for by tax dollars and should be free to all.
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Terence O
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
- Comments
- В
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Sue W. B
- Institution is OCLC Member?
- No
- Institution contributes records to OCLC?
- No
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171
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