Centrum Cyfrowe &
Knowledge Rights 21
collaboration

Centrum Cyfrowe is a proud collaborator of the Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21) programme. KR21 focuses on bringing about changes in legislation and practice across Europe that will strengthen the right of all to knowledge. It is built on a conviction that knowledge is essential for education, innovation and cultural participation, and that everyone should have the possibility – in particular through libraries, archives and digitally – to access and use it.

Within the initiative Centrum Cyfrowe acts as KR21 National Coordinator in Poland and conducts a study on Secure Digital Lending in European Libraries.

KR21 National Coordination
in Poland

Knowledge Rights 21 aims to mobilise a strong and sustainable national network of copyright advocates, supporting a delivery of a legal and policy reform necessary to achieve a 21st century worthy access to research, education and culture.

Centrum Cyfrowe is privileged to be the programme’s National Coordinator in Poland. Our aim is to advocate for change, build bridges and create space for dialogue and understanding necessary to catalyse change in relation to the needs of libraries, research, education and culture on national and regional level. Meet other National Coordinators.

Who are we? Centrum Cyfrowe (FCC) is a think-and-do tank based in Warsaw (Poland) that supports openness and engagement in the digital world. Together with experts and practitioners open to change, it conducts research and creates space for new ideas, skills and tools development. It strives to ensure that the social interest is always in the first place in the relationship between humans and technology.

Contact Katarzyna Strycharz for details.

Our team

Maja Drabczyk

Head of policy and advocacy,

Centrum Cyfrowe Foundation

Katarzyna Strycharz

Public policy specialist,

Centrum Cyfrowe Foundation

Dr Konrad Gliściński

Intellectual property expert,

Centrum Cyfrowe Foundation / Jagiellonian University

“Libraries and archives
of the future” conference

The libraries and archives of the future are institutions that have an online presence. On the way to fully use their potential in the digital world, copyright regulations appear. Can intellectual property rights support the mission of these public institutions? What changes do we need to make libraries and archives follow their audiences and respond to their needs? We will look for answers in 3 thematic sessions:

Changes in copyright law – does the implementation of the DSM directive support the public mission of libraries and archives in Poland?
Secure Digital Lending in Poland – what are the rules governing the lending of e-books by libraries
Copyright law and the public mission of libraries and archives in the digital world – international recommendations

The conference will be concluded with a round table of feedback provided by invited experts.

The virtual space of the conference will be open to all interested parties – librarians, archivists, employees of cultural institutions, lawyers, activists and decision makers. The entire conference will be translated simultaneously, on site and online.

go to the Conference site

Study on Secure Digital
Lending in Libraries

The study provides a comparative analysis of the current state of copyright law regarding the possibility for libraries to digitise and lend books under national and European law, covering all EU Member States and a selection of Council of Europe Member States. Based on the findings the study considers ways to facilitate the provision of Secure Digital Lending (SDL) by libraries within the norms of copyright law.

The main goal of the research is to help understand better the legal standing of digitisation and lending under European law, to identify Member States in which such lending may already be legal without any legislative changes, where it could be legalised through national legislative changes and where, if applicable, EU-level legislative changes would be required.

The principal investigator is Dr. Konrad Gliściński LL.M. (Centrum Cyfrowe/ Jagiellonian University). The study will be conducted in partnership with researchers from the Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Law and Administration, Future Law Lab.

The final research report will be published in 2023.

Research Exceptions Study

Under the Knowledge Rights 21 Programme, Centrum Cyfrowe is running a study with two objectives:

investigating the diversity of research exceptions currently present in European copyright laws
assessing the practical impact that they have on efforts to support research and innovation in Europe

The study will be divided into two parts conducted in parallel between June 2023 and March 2024.

The first part of the study focuses on conducting a literature review and analysing available reports on research exceptions. This theoretical backbone will support the qualitative research carried out in the second part, which explores researchers’ practical experiences with copyright laws, including these exceptions.

The final report should be delivered in March 2024.

learn more