Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Edited Legal Collections Data

Derclaye, Estelle --- "Introduction" [2010] ELECD 784; in Derclaye, Estelle (ed), "Copyright and Cultural Heritage" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Copyright and Cultural Heritage

Editor(s): Derclaye, Estelle

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849800044

Section Title: Introduction

Author(s): Derclaye, Estelle

Number of pages: 11

Extract:

Introduction
Estelle Derclaye

This book is the result and prolongation of a conference I organized in
March 2009 and which bore the title `Preserving and accessing our cultural
heritage ­ the role of copyright law, digitisation and the Internet'. It has
grown into an even fuller picture including contributions not only from
European scholars but from abroad. The idea behind the conference was
to explore how to improve the preservation of and access to our cultural
heritage. Why? First, it is near impossible to deny the importance of the
safeguard of and access to cultural heritage for any country and for the
world at large. It reflects a country's intellectual and economic wealth. It
ensures that a people's memory is kept alive and thus preserves a coun-
try's history, which in turn helps to ensure the avoidance of past mistakes
and unnecessary duplications, the progress of education, of science and
knowledge, the maintenance of cultural diversity, the mutual understand-
ing between peoples and, hopefully, peace. It also helps increase personal
development and sustainable development, all sorts of benefits to human-
kind but also to all living beings and the planet. Of course this is an idealis-
tic view; not everyone is interested in history or in art and some individuals
will never be bothered to learn more about another's culture. However, it
is indispensable to conserve our cultural heritage and make it as widely
available as possible, especially in schools, to enable these goals.
Second, it has ...