tdm-reservation-protocol

Use Cases

Note: the term “publisher” is used here broadly, i.e. as an organization which publishes content on the Web.

Use Case 1: a publisher does not declare TDM rights on its content

NEWSONLINE is a European online newspaper. NEWSONLINE doesn’t declare if TDM rights are reserved or not on its content ( i.e. HTML pages containing news, including text, pictures, audio and video content, infographics).

For TDM usages in Europe, in the absence of any indication, a TDM agent can mine this content for TDM purposes without having to contact NEWSLONLINE.

But for TDM usages outside of the EU, a TDM actor must contact NEWSONLINE and request an authorization to mine such content. It may find in the TDM information the NEWSONLINE contact which will ease his authorization request.

Use Case 2: a publisher declares that TDM rights are not reserved

OPENORG is a European open data publisher. It explicitly indicates that TDM rights on its articles, datasets and pictures are not reserved.

By checking TDM rights, TDM actors know that they can mine such content for TDM purposes regardless where TDM usage is taking place. TDM actors do not need to contact OPENORG to check if it is possible to obtain an authorization for TDM usage outside the EU, which eases the workload of the OPENORG team.

Use Case 3: a publisher declares that TDM rights are reserved

EBOOKS is a European publisher which provides on its website free extracts which can be read online via a Web reading app.

EBOOKS declares that TDM rights are reserved on each HTML page containing a section of the book (usually a chapter), including the book cover, synopsis, marketing text and other metadata,.

If the same TDM rights reservation (a.k.a. “opt-out”) declaration applies to all extracts, it can be expressed once for all contents of the website. If EBOOKS decides that some books must be protected by the TDM opt-out and some can be mined, the declaration of the TDM opt-out is done on individual contents.

By checking the TDM information, TDM agents know that they cannot mine this content for TDM purposes, regardless where the TDM usage would take place. TDM actors have to contact EBOOKS to check if it is possible to obtain an authorization for TDM usage.

Use Case 4: a publisher declares TDM opt-out and the possibility to acquire a TDM license

ACADM is a European academic publishing platform which makes articles freely available on the Web in HTML and PDF format.

ACADM declares TDM opt-out on each HTML page containing an article and on each downloadable PDF file. It also declares that a TDM license can be acquired, indicates the URL of this license and expresses licensing data in machine-readable form.

By checking the TDM information, TDM agents know how to apply for a TDM license and can automate the licensing process.

Use Case 5: declaration of TDM rights on content accessible upon authentication

The technical solution put in place for freely available content on the Web can also be of interest for solutions where access to the content requires authentication. In this case, it acts as a re-inforcement of contractual clauses. Note that this can also apply to library e-lending and ebook preview services.

READALL is a subscription service, which delivers EPUB files to its users. The publisher of a set of titles has decided to opt-out from the TDM exception and has signaled his choice to READALL using a machine-readable language.

READALL declares TDM opt-out on each HTML page containing an ebook description and on each downloadable EPUB file from this publisher. By checking the TDM information,TDM agents know that they cannot mine this content for TDM purposes, regardless where TDM usages would take place, and that TDM actors shall contact READALL to check if it is possible to obtain an authorization for TDM.