[pdb-discuss] Re: Writing a grant proposal for the public domain works db

Tue May 23 16:01:32 UTC 2006

Ahoy,

On Tuesday 23 May 2006 16:50, Tim Cowlishaw wrote:
> I'm definately happy to help with this!
>
> I'll try and write something up over the next couple of days... are we
> applying for a grant to develop the software, or the database itself, or
> both?

Cool, I'm happy to comment and review.

> We should also explain the need for this data, IMO.. in the absence of a
> national 'copyrighted works registry' (which i think, was originally the
> function of the stationers office, back when the statute of anne was first
> implemented) we have no way of telling which works are in the public domain
> and which are not, so there is a clear need for a system to gather this
> data. (Is this all correct, btw? I'll obviously fact check and research
> everything I write, but it'd be good to know if i'm missing the point
> completely.)

Are we pressing home the "it's an interesting experiment with a 
real-world-applicable outcome" angle or the "it's something British society 
needs and we're moving towards plugging the gap" angle?

We should establish the grants we're going for, the specific requirements they 
have, and the nature of the work they like to fund before we dive into 
writing proposals. If it were through the AHRC (used to be AHRB), for 
example, I'd imagine we'd want to get in touch with the AHRC Copyright 
Research Network: http://www.copyright.bbk.ac.uk

Regards,
Tom

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