IP Guide
Projects (1)
Projects (2)
Identifiers
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Identifiers
This supplement to the
ECMS page on the Intellectual Property guide considers
recent proposals for the global identification of digital
publications and individual intellectual property
rights/works that those publications utilize.
A useful starting point
is the detailed paper
on Information Identifiers by Norman Paskin of DOI
ISWC
The most ambitious scheme
is probably the International Standard Work Code (ISWC), a
global identifier that would potentially cover all digital
content and much print or other media.
The ISWC
Number is a 'universal' unique identifier developed in
Europe and associated with the Common Information System
(CIS) under the auspices of international copyright body CISAC
(International Confederation of Societies of Authors &
Composers). The intention is that the identifier - with
endorsement from the International Standards Organization
(ISO) - will link works, right holders and
agreements.
CISAC envisages
development of a range of identification numbers:
The International
Standard Work Code (ISWC) is being used for
musical works (ISWC-T) and developed for literary works
(ISWC-L). The codes are 'dumb' numbers, ie they are
sequentially allocated ten-digit identifiers that do not
incorporate author/region data but instead relate to a
global database containing author, publisher and other
rights management information. The new number would
supplement or replace the existing International
Standard Music Number (ISMN), a publishers number
used for sheet music and recognized by the ISO
The International
Standard Recording Code (ISRC) - being considered
by CISAC and the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry (IFPI) - would replace the
ISO-recognized Standard Recording Code identifying
musical recordings such as a track on a CD, currently
found on less than 40% of recordings. IFPI argues that
most online content consists of
"manifestations" of works ("digital
objects") rather than "works" in a pure
copyright sense and that the new code would allow
differentiation between works and particular recordings
or transmissions.
The International
Standard Book (ISBN) and Serial (ISSN)
Numbers have been in use for around thirty years. In
contrast to the ISWC the ISBN is 'intelligent',
comprising a one-digit region code, a publisher prefix,
and sequentially attributed numbers specific to the
publication, followed by a check digit. Journals and
other periodicals are similarly identified by the ISSN.
The two numbers relate to a specific title and thus do
not identify constituent images, text and other content
that may have a separate identity for copyright
purposes. A perspective on evolution of the ISBN is
provided in the US ISBN Agency's paper
on The Digital World & The Ongoing
Development of ISBN.
The ISWC will, it's
expected, accommodate the PII, SICI and BICI schemes
described below.
The Compositeur
Auteur Editeur Code (CAE/IPI) used by music
rights management bodies was developed in 1992 by CISAC
but largely superseded by the "Interested
Parties" (IP) Number - confusingly using the same
format - that sought to identifying all rightsholders.
The format of the number itself did not change. Access
to the IP database is currently restricted; some have
argued that an enhanced CAE could lead to a standard
identifier for all content industries.
The proposed
International Standard Audiovisual Number (ISAN),
a joint development of CISAC and the ISO, is a 16-digit
dumb number to identify audiovisual works of all kinds.
It would be administered by a non-profit-making,
international agency and used to identify film and other
AV content in analogue or digital formats, including
compact disks, websites, packaging and contracts
The EU's ARGOS
project aims to develop open systems protocols for the
exchange of such standard numbers and other rights
management information between networks, databases and
devices.
other projects
Geneva-based InterDeposit
has developed the InterDeposit Digital Number (IDDN),
currently in use mainly for MP3 recordings.
The Publisher Item
Identifier (PII) was developed in 1995 by an
informal group of major scientific/technical publishers in
North America and the EU. It comprises seventeen
alphanumeric characters indicating publication type (book
or a journal), and other information such as the year of a
serial publication.
The Serial Item &
Contribution Identifier (SICI) currently used
by some publishers, subscription agents and libraries does
not identify individual articles.
An expanded SICI and a
new Book Item & Component Identifier (BICI),
under development, would be tied to global databases and
identify components of a book or serial (eg an
illustration, an article, a foreword, or a table).
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