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2015-5-20 Searching for copyright holders of books - open research for author information -

The National Diet Library (NDL) has been digitizing its collections in accordance with Article 31 Paragraph 2 of the Copyright Law. To provide access to these digitized materials via the Internet, the NDL has also been clearing their copyright, with the main focus on books published before 1945.

The procedure to clear copyright is as follows: first, we identify the author, publisher, illustrator, and other right holders of the material. Then, we confirm the copyright expiry date. If the copyright has not yet expired or cannot be confirmed, we ask the copyright holder for permission to provide access to the digitized material via the Internet. In cases where the copyright holder cannot be identified after a diligent search, we ask for a compulsory license to be issued by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, in accordance with Article 67 of the Copyright Law.

Of the materials for which we have been granted a compulsory license, there are approximately 50,000 authors whose copyright holders are unreachable. In order to continue to provide access to digitized materials via the Internet, we will carry out open research on the NDL website (only in Japanese) to collect information on these authors, starting on Wednesday, May 20, 2015. We appreciate any contribution of information on the years of the authors' birth and death, and on the contact information of copyright holders.

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