Copyright and for-profit, private, post-secondary university

← Return to forum

• May 21, 2008 @ 9:01ambooklet says:

  I recently started working at a for-profit, private, post-secondary university. As there hasn't been a Librarian working here in about 5 years, I think the copyright practices in this Library have become very liberal.
  
  In regards to print reserves, it is up to the instructors to determine copyright compliance and they must obtain permission if necessary. They also don't change their required articles every term. The folders are in the Library for students to copy. How does this affect me if they have violated copyright? Should the Library handle compliance and permissions for print reserves? For some reason, permissions are obtained for only distance education readings. Because of the school's status, the policy states that we are governed only by the US Copyright Act of 1976. Is this correct?
  
  When the Library receives articles they've requested through ILL, pdfs and hard copies have been retained for students and faculty to re-use if someone requests the same article. Is this ok to do? It doesn't seem like it is. What do you recommend as a reference for understanding ILL copyright as the article receiver?
  
  Help! In my former Library position, we always obtained and kept a record of permissions and we never kept document deliveries. I'm concerned about the practices here.
• May 21, 2008 @ 12:31pmJanetCroft says:

  You're right to be concerned! The allowances made for educational purposes in the copyright law are only applicable to non-profit institutions. You will have to rely solely on the fair use test, rather than having the protection afforded by the educational exceptions. Here's an article that looks like a good place to start: "Copyright Issues and 'For-Profit' Libraries: Problems and Solutions" by Merilyn Burke and Susan J. Heron. Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply 14 .4 (2004): 5-21. It's on for-profit libraries in general, not specifically on for-profit education libraries, but it appears to be a good review of the issues. Even better might be "Legally speaking - copyright and for-profit educational institutions" by Bryan M. Carson. Against the Grain, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 58-60, 2008 -- more current, but I have not seen the article and can't comment on its content.
  
  On your specific question on retaining copies of ILL items "in case someone else requests it," that's a no-no even for non-profit institutions.
• May 21, 2008 @ 1:11pmbooklet says:

  Thanks for your help.
  
  I also had the question:
  
  In regards to print reserves, it is up to the instructors to determine copyright compliance and they must obtain permission if necessary. They also don't change their required articles every term. The folders are in the Library for students to copy. How does this affect me if the instructors have violated copyright, but their required articles are sitting in my Library? Should the Library handle compliance and permissions for print reserves?
  
  What is your recommendation?
  
  Thanks!
• May 22, 2008 @ 11:35amksmith says:

  The widespread, but not universal, practice of treating some electronic reserves as fair use in the first semester of use but requiring permission for subsequent uses derives from the "classroom copying" guidelines which were part of the House report on the 1976 Copyright Act. It is based on a mis-reading, in my opinion, of the "spontaneity" requirement, which is specifically addressing the situation of multiple copies being distributed to a class. This is a rather different situation that putting a couple of copies on physical reserve, so it does not seem to me that the practice is necessary for print reserves (laying aside the question of whether it is a necessary part of defending fair use for electronic reserves). The print reserves situation seems to require a much more straightforward fair use analysis which does not depend on avoiding repeated use.
• May 22, 2008 @ 12:18pmJanetCroft says:

  I'd say if they are in your library and you are processing them, providing space for them, loaning them, etc., you can't totally evade responsibility. (If electronic versions are on a courseware page or homepage that the faculty member maintains with no input from the library, then it can be totally up to the faculty member to take responsibility. But if physical items are provided space in the library, then you are involved.) I would suggest that if you want to keep providing reserves in your library, but continue to make it the instructor's responsibility to secure permission, then you need to tell them you won't put anything on reserve without a piece of paper for your files showing the permission agreement for each item. OR switch to doing the initial invesitagtion yourself, but leave it up to the instructor to pay any required fees.
• June 30, 2008 @ 12:30pmbooklet says:

  To keep something as a print reserve in a library, would copyright permission need to be obtained? Our school obtains permissions for electronic copies for distance education.
  
  and
  
  What do you recommend as a reference for understanding ILL copyright as the article receiver?

Posting to the forum is only available to users who are logged in.

← Return to forum