First years of CD-ROM publication in Hungary

Abstract

After only a few years of the appearance of the first CD-ROM products, Hungary started with publication of laser disk databases in 1990, too. The present author compiled for the first time the discography of CD-ROM titles produced in Hungary, and compared it with the data of TFPL Publishing Facts and Figures 1993. In Hungary, twice as many CD-ROM products were published relative to the population as the world average: more than 70 titles from December 1990 to May 1995. The slope of the growth curve of the published products in Hungary is identical to that announced by TFPL. The number of multimedia CD-ROM publications has exceeded that of textual databases in the last years. After a thorough analysis of the Hungarian situation, the author discusses the controversial issue of copyright. Especially, she points out an aspect that is rather neglected both by developers and emerging new publishers, the right of reasonable usage assured by the copyright laws which could be realized in libraries.