With HotLinks Revolutionary 2D Full-text SearchMATCH Discovery and Digital Mind Palace, DLSG’s
Digital Fence forms the centerpiece of a true hybrid library that Optimizes ©-Law exceptions and
limitations
Unlike Title 17 Section 109(c)-compliant solutions that only run on patron use PCs in your library,
DLSG's Digital Fence also detects when notebook PCs, tablets and phones are in the library and allow
copyrighted print collections content to be displayed on your patron’s own devices “by the
projection of no more than one image at a time” and only while they are “present at the place where
the copy is located,” in compliance with Section 109(c).
Title 17 Section 109(c)
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(5), the owner of a particular copy lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to display that copy publicly, either directly or by the projection of no more than one image at a time, to viewers present at the place where the copy is located.
How Digital Fence Works
With HotLinks Revolutionary 2D Full-text SearchMATCH Discovery, tens of
millions of Open Access journal articles and 17,000 books are available at all times
via HotLinks Revolutionary 2D Full-text SearchMATCH Discovery and Digital Mind Palace
Multiple WiFi hotspots are common in academic and public libraries
DLSG's Digital Fence uses the signal strengths of library's WiFi hotspots (access
points), and through 'triangulation,' verifies whether the patron is in the library and 'present at
the place where the copy is located.' If the patron moves outside the digital fence, any copyrighted
content that was readable while inside the digital fence becomes unreadable, and the item's title
author, publisher, publish date and other information is displayed clearly in a window over the
blurred content.
DLSG provides a Digital Fence calibration tool so that your library's IT staff
can recalibrate the Digital Fence when a change is made to the number of WiFi HotSpots and/or their
locations. A virtually unlimited number of floors and floorplan shapes can be configured.
Note that the best place to keep print items that can be viewed while in the
library is a Concentrated Collections Area (CCA). Each CCA can have its own separate digital fence.
A virtually unlimited number of floors and library floor plan shapes can be
configured
WiFi Digital Fence
While you wait to see whether libraries will ever again be able to buy a
book and lend it thousands of times, your library can do something
quite amazing and fully legal – you can provide your patrons with
unlimited digital access to your print collections content while they
are in the library. Copyright law explicitly states that every owner of a
copy of a copyrighted item can allow others to view that item on a
display device. Your library can provide unlimited digital viewing of
all of your items or just your most popular items, on your patron-use
PCs and on your patrons’ own notebooks, tablets and phones for far
less than book publishers are charging for Overdrive lending and far
less than journal publishers are charging for journal subscriptions.
And it’s unambiguously legal.
Copyright Law Section 109(c) allows copyrighted content to be projected onto a digital device,
provided
only one copy is displayed for each copy that is owned and 'in the same place.' Although not as
valuable
to patrons as controlled digital lending (if it were legal), DLSG's version of 'in-library' digital
display makes print collections items digitally viewable for pennies per page.
For copyrighted items that academic libraries rarely purchase more than one copy of (e.g.,
monographs
and journals), interpreting the ‘place’ as the entire university would not materially hurt publisher
sales, and instead, would greatly benefit students, faculty and researchers. This should increase
sales
of monographs and journals, which would provide some much needed financial help to small,
independent
journal and monograph publishers.
For Copyrighted items that are typically purchased in bulk (e.g., textbooks), it seems that the
‘place’
should be interpreted as 'inside the library.' Otherwise, many purchases for students that would
ordinarily be in bulk may be reduced to a single copy.
For Copyrighted items that are typically purchased in bulk (e.g., textbooks), it seems that the
‘place’
must be limited to the library. Otherwise, many purchases that would ordinarily be in bulk may be
reduced to a single copy.
To allow public libraries and academic institutions to take advantage
of ©-LawSection 109(c), DLSG offers two types of Digital Fence: 1) IP
based; and 2) Wi-Fi Signal Strength with Triangulation. This is because
copyright law does not specify the ‘place’ in detail.
For institutions that opt for the WiFi-based digital fence, a DLSG technician will assist the
library in
setting up the initial WiFi-based digital fence then train library staff to tune and adjust it as
needed
(e.g., when your library adds Wi-Fi access points).
While in the Library, All Copyrighted 
When Outside the Library, Copyright-controlled 
