Open Access Groups Aim to Revolutionize Law Around Big Data in the Digital Age | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

"More than 50 organizations on Wednesday released the groundbreaking Hague Declaration on Knowledge Discovery in the Digital Age, aimed at eliminating the barriers that stop humans from accessing and analyzing the "mountains of data" being produced each and every day ... According to a press release (pdf) from the Association of European Research Libraries, or LIBER, which led the drafting of the document, '[C]opyright was never designed to regulate the sharing of facts, data and ideas‒nor should it. The right to receive and impart information and ideas is guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but the modern application of IP law often limits this right, even when these most simple building blocks of knowledge are used.'  To combat such challenges, 25 global experts in everything from metadata mining to information sharing to contract law gathered in December 2014 to craft the set of principles now known as the Hague Declaration, which they believe 'will help shape ethical research practice, legislative reform and the development of open access policies and infrastructure' ..."