HathiTrust Acknowledges Flaws in Handling ‘Orphan Works’

"Faced with criticism over how it identifies “orphan works,” the HathiTrust digital repository acknowledged that its procedure is “flawed” and said it was working to fix the problems before it makes those works more widely available. A work is considered an orphan if it’s subject to copyright but its owner can’t be identified or found. HathiTrust planned to release the first batch of books in its Orphan Works Project next month. Access would still be limited to users of the repository’s partner libraries, and rights holders would still be free to claim ownership...."