I was talking to my colleague Bill Carney earlier, who manages the Copyright Evidence Registry initiative, as well as our work to synchronize Worldcat with Google and other digitization initiatives.
OCLC has launched a pilot to explore the feasibility of building a cooperatively created and maintained repository of copyright evidence. Based on WorldCat, which contains more than 100 million bibliographic records describing items held in thousands of libraries worldwide, the Copyright Evidence Registry uses data contributed by libraries and other organizations participating in the pilot. Those participating in the pilot are using the Copyright Evidence Registry to find information about a book, learn what others have said about its copyright status, and share what they know. Pilot participants include libraries, individuals, OCLC and other organizations collaborating to contribute data and build the repository. [WorldCat® Copyright Evidence Registry [OCLC]]
The project has just released a rules engine to pilot participants:
… pilot participants will be able to create and run automated copyright rules that conform to their institution’s standards for determining copyright status. The rules will help you analyze the information available in the Copyright Evidence Registry and form your own conclusions about copyright status. [WorldCat® Copyright Evidence Registry [OCLC]]
Here is an example of an entry (look under the ‘copyright details’ tab for contributed data).
