Jim Weinheimer wrote "But if ONIX data comes from publishers, they
should know better than anyone else in the world where they are
located." and "Do we need place of publication? That is a matter of
debate, but in my opinion, if we want systems to somehow
automatically know what copyright laws are in effect for a resource,
place of publication becomes vital because the laws are different all
over the place. "
I have seen maybe one publisher who uses the place of publication in
ONIX data, the majority do not. It is not important to the publisher
where the item is published. What is important to the publisher is
where the publisher has the rights to sell the item, which is
reflected in the sales rights composite. A book may say it is
published in New York, but then the rights composite may look like:
<salesrights>
<b089>02</b089>
<b388>WORLD</b388>
</salesrights>
Indicating it can be sold anywhere in the world. Having New York as
the place of publication may be helpful to indicate copyright in the
U.S. but does nothing for the rest of the countries where the book is
actually sold. And this composite doesn't actually mean it is sold
in every country, just that the publisher does have rights if they
want to sell it.
David Williamson
Cataloging Automation Specialist
Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 20540-4200
202.707.5179 (voice)
dawi_at_loc.gov
Received on Mon Jan 03 2011 - 08:12:17 EST