| C.E.E.O.L.
– a Gateway to Central and Eastern Europe
A political
reason with regard to the European Union:
European integration – especially in the context of the
Union's enlargement and pertaining to the resistance the enlargement
is facing in different European societies – must be based
on more information and a higher accessibility of information
for Western opinion-making target groups, as well as for the broader
public.
A political
reason regarding Central and Eastern Europe:
Large amounts of reliable content of great scientific and journalistic
value already exists in terms of numerous academic and cultural
periodicals in C.E.E. Based on a long tradition of dissident groups
and movements, these periodicals are key platforms for public
debate on politics, culture and social affairs. Such content needs
to be accessible in much easier and broader ways.
The economic
argument:
Yet, as long as the content is offered in a printed medium only,
all these above mentioned periodicals will remain limited to their
home market. If an electronic distribution already exists on the
Internet, it is mostly free of charge due to a lack of e-business
facilities. This results in economic disadvantages for the publishers
and infringes on the copyrights of authors and publishers in turn.
The protection
of copyrights:
The content offered in the C.E.E.O.L. library remains the intellectual
property of the authors and their publishers respectively. C.E.E.O.L.'s
task is limited to the distribution of those documents, the marketing
of the portal, handling payments, and reporting to the publishers.
The authors' and publishers' rights to the documents
will therefore be clearly safeguarded by contract agreements with
all the publishers participating in the network on the one hand,
and with the users on the other. (See
Terms and Conditions). An automatic protocol of all utilization
of the material enables correct payment to all the rightful holders,
in accordance with their contract agreements.
|