Lib.ru
Encyclopedia
Lib.ru, also known as Maksim Moshkow's Library is the oldest electronic library in the Russian Internet segment.

Founded and supported by Maksim Moshkow
Maksim Moshkow
Maksím Eugénievich Moshków is a public figure of the Russian Internet segment, the Runet.He graduated from Moscow State University Department of Mechanics and Mathematics. Since 1991 he has been an employee of the Scientific Research Institute of System Development, where he among other duties is...

, it receives contributions mainly from users who send texts they scanned and processed (OCR
Optical character recognition
Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files, to computerize a record-keeping...

, proofreading
Proofreading
Proofreading is the reading of a galley proof or computer monitor to detect and correct production-errors of text or art. Proofreaders are expected to be consistently accurate by default because they occupy the last stage of typographic production before publication.-Traditional method:A proof is...

). This method of acquisition provides the library a broad and efficient augmentability, though sometimes it adversely affects the quality (errors, omissions).

The structure of the library includes a section where one can publish his own literary texts ("Samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...

" journal), a project for music publishing ("Music hosting"), a travel notes project ("Foreign countries") and some other sections (See Maksim Moshkow's projects collection section).

Maksim Moshkow's Library received several Ru-net Awards, including the National Internet Award (2003).

The headline on the site Lib.ru says "With support from the Federal Press and Mass Communications Agency
Rospechat
Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation is the regulating state agency within the hierarchy of modern Russian Government...

". According to Moshkow, his project received $35,000 from that organization in September 2005, which indicates some level of government support for the online publishing of in-copyright works. http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=4005

Maksim Moshkow's project could be compared to some Wikimedia projects and is sometimes referred to as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

's Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...

.

KM Online vs. Maksim Moshkow's Library

On April 1, 2004 the "KM Online" media company, which is known for forming its own library by copying texts from the other electronic libraries, issued a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

 against Maksim Moshkow's Library in the name of Eduard Gevorkian, Marina Alekseyeva (pen-name "Alexandra Marinina
Alexandra Marinina
Alexandra Marinina is a best-selling Russian writer of detective stories.-Biography:...

"), Vasili Golovachov
Vasili Golovachov
Vasili Vasilievich Golovachov is a modern Russian science fiction writer, known in Russian-speaking countries for writing both hard science fiction and sci-fi/fantasy mixes.-List of works:...

 and Elena Katasonova. It was later discovered that only Gevorkian had had real claims against Moshkow. Moshkow's lawyer was Andrey Mironov from the Artemi Lebedev Studio
Art. Lebedev Studio
Art. Lebedev Studio is a design company in Russia, founded in 1995 by Artemy Lebedev.The studio creates industrial and graphic design for commercial entities and doesn't accept work from private citizens and political or religious organizations...

, while KM's interests were presented by the so-called "National association on Digital Technologies (NOCIT)".

This case became a precedent in the Russian legal practice which illustrated pressure on an electronic library caused by a copyright violation lawsuit.

On March 30, 2005, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

's Ostankino city district court imposed a penalty on Maksim Moshkow to pay Eduard Gevorkian a total of 3000 Russian ruble
Russian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...

s (around 120 USD) as compensation for moral damage. The ruling did not mention any compensation for copyright violation.

On May 30, 2006, another court order ruled that Moshkow had no right to publish online the works of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

, Harrison and Zinoviev and ordered him to pay 10,000 rubles in each case. Moshkow's lawyer said he would appeal the decision.

Maksim Moshkow's projects collection


See also

  • Runivers
    Runivers
    Runivers is a site devoted to Russian culture and history. Runivers targets Russian speaking readers and those interested in Russian culture and history....

  • Google Books
  • Project Gutenberg
    Project Gutenberg
    Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...

  • Digital library
    Digital library
    A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats and accessible by computers. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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