Library/education problems with electronic copyright Available to Purchase

From receiving my copy of the draft copyright clauses of the forthcoming Bill late on 5 August 1987 to parting with comments compiled with the participation of the library/information organisations on 21 August 1987, I lived, ate and breathed the words of the parliamentary draftsman. Some words were found palatable and refreshingly pithy compared with 1956. The ‘haute cuisine’ treatment of databases as cable programme services was welcomed, once realised on the second read through. Other parts were unpalatable, and some positively caused indigestion. In certain places I was hungry for more, however. The main aim of this paper is to explain and summarise what I believe to be the ‘electronic copyright’ problems in libraries, and also in education resource units, on which the draft clauses could have provided more.