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Copyright and Libraries

Copyright and Libraries including:

• Licensing Electronic Information

Current Awareness

• American Bar Association - Current Intellectual Property Legislation
• American Library Association - Copyright at a Glance
• Association of Research Libraries - Copyright and Intellectual Property   has links to legislation and court cases affecting libraries
• Coalition for Networked Information, CNI- Copyright Listserv Archives Index and Sometimes discusses libraries.
• House Subcommittee on Courts & Intellectual Property - need to look through parent Judiciary Committee - lists hearings, documents, live webcasts
• Kasunic.com - The Copyright Law and Litigation Resource articles, legislation, cases and resources, a complete site by Robert J. Kasunic, Senior Attorney in the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office.

Copyright Law of Special Interest to Librarians

• 17 U.S.C. Sec. 108  Limitations on Exclusive Rights: Reproduction by Libraries and Archives  This is the bible of library copyright law - states when libraries can make copies for preservation, replacement, ILL and more.  See further explanation and history at U.S. Copyright Office Circular 21 - Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians
• 37 CFR § 201.14   Warnings of copyright for use by certain libraries and archives Gives specific wording that libraries must use when they take requests by patrons for copies

• 37 CFR § 201.24   Warning of copyright for software lending by nonprofit libraries Gives specific wording that libraries must use when they lend software (not just CDs with content)

• 37 CFR § 201.39   Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or Availability at Reasonable Price.  and more here.  Libraries that are digitizing old works are exempt from the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act's additional 20 years unless the works are subject to normal commercial exploitation.  This regulation kind of explains that process.

Library Cases (in reverse chronological order)

• Hotaling v. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 1997 Fourth Circuit held that an unauthorized microfiche in the Morman Library could constitute infringement when the library placed the work in its collection, included the copy in its catalog or index system, and made the copy available to the public.
• American Geophysical v. Texaco 1994 Second Circuit case and documents from Association of Research Libraries. A corporate researcher who made copies of journal articles for his files could be infringing copyright, and should license the articles instead
• Sony v Universal Studios 1984 U.S. Supreme Court - broader than libraries, but here's the brief by Mary Hutchings and Newton Minow for the American Library Association submitted in 1982
• Williams & Wilkins Co. v. United States, 487 F.2d 1345 , 1973 Ct of Claims, aff'd by an equally divided court, 420 U.S. 376, 95 S.Ct. 1344 (1975) archives of case: Williams and Wilkins v. United States Williams & Wilkins, a medical publishing house filed suit against  the National Library of Medicine (NLM),  claiming that NLM was systematically making unauthorized photocopies of periodical articles for scientists and researchers. Although the trial court ruled for the plaintiffs, saying that Libraryís "wholesale copying" met none of the criteria of "fair use," the Court of Claims (in a 4-3 decision) dismissed the claim against the library. It found the copying was "fair use," and emphasized the public interest in free access to medical knowledge, and lack of evidence showing harm to the publishers.  On February 25, 1975, the Supreme Court split four-to-four to affirm the Court of Claims decision, without a written opinion. Congress later addressed the issue of library photocopying when it enacted the 1976 Act

Legal Memos for Libraries

• Arnold Lutzker, Lutzker & Lutzker LLP
  • Copyright Notice: Section 108(a)(3)    discusses new revisions of the Copyright Act that affect when it is sufficient for a library to stamp a copy "This work may be protected by copyright" August 19, 1999
  • In the Curl of the Wave: What the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Term Extension Act Mean for the Library and Education Community  April 1999
  • Primer on the Digital Millennium: What The Digital Millennium Copyright Act And The Copyright Term Extension Act  Mean For The Library Community circa March 8, 1999

Library Copyright Guidelines and Articles (and a couple of webcasts)

• Association of Research Libraries Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Analysis and Status
• J. Wesley Cochran, Why Can't I Watch this Video Here? Copyright Confusion & Performance of Videocassettes & Videodiscs in Libraries 15 Hastings Communications & Entertainment Journal (Comment) 837 (1993)
• Laura Gasaway, Copyright Considerations for Electronic Reserves - free online chapter from Jeff Rosedale's Managing Electronic Reserves (ALA: 2002)
• Georgia Harper, Copyright in the Library from the outstanding Copyright Crash Course at University of Texas - Go here for readable up-to-date analyses on issues concerning electronic reserve rooms, photocopying in the library, interlibrary loan, digital libraries, libraries and the DMCA and more. This is a great site for libraries!
• Mary Minow
  • Comments submitted by California Association of Library Trustees and Commissioners  June 15, 2000 on Anti-Circumvention Rulemaking
  • Copyright: What You Need to Know about Your Library's Web Page    March 2000
  • Digitization Projects: Does Your Library Have the Rights and Permissions it Needs? Infopeople webcast held May 16, 2002 - free archived version (must register) After registering and choosing a media player, user may jump to sections in the presentation index: Introduction and Overview, Public Domain Expiration- Published Works, Public Domain Expiration - Unpublished Works, - Section 108 Library Exemption Overview, Section 108 Library Exemption 20 Year Rule, Section 108 Library Exemption - Preservation, Replacement, Security, Fair Use and Salamis, Permissions Good Faith Efforts and Disclaimers, Pickle Jars and Other Restrictions, Summary
  • How I Learned to Love FAIR USE… or how to bring a $300,000 lawsuit down to $0 if you're a library, archive, or nonprofit educational institution Stanford Fair Use site July 2003
  • Interview with Myself: Copyright Legislation and Libraries   Fall 1999
  • Library Copyright Liability and Pirating Patrons . . . and What You Can Do About It   May 2001
  • Library Web Pages: Identifying Public Domain Sources to Borrow From May 2002
• Music Library Association Legislation Committee A Guide to Copyright for Music Librarians
• School Library Copying
  • Groton Public Schools
• Society of American Archivists
  • Basic Principles for Managing Intellectual Property in the Digital Environment: An Archival Perspective (August 1997)
  • Copyright, Archival Institutions and the Digital Environment (June 1997)
• Stanford University - Library Photocopying (Nolo)

Especially for Libraries - Copyright Resources on the Web

• American Library Association, Copyright Issues
• International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, Copyright and Intellectual Property international documents on copyright for librarians
• OCLC Copyright Online Resource Kit includes Institutional Policies, Intellectual Property Audits, Risk Management, Permissions, Canadian Copyright and more
• University of Indiana, Copyright Management Center, Library Issues    Section 108, Library copyright notices, electronic reserves, preservation
• University of Texas, Copyright in the Library -  Reserve rooms, library copying, contracts, interlibrary loan
• Yale University Library,  Liblicense: Licensing Digital Information -- A Resource for Librarians The place for librarians who sign licensing agreements for electronic information. If the library's parent body or its consortium signs these agreements, make sure this site is consulted.

     Outside the U.S.

• UK - Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

The Best of the Overall Copyright Resources on the Web

• Laura Gasaway, When Works Pass Into the Public Domain     Very useful table- helps in figuring out if you need to get permission to use an item
• Peter B. Hirtle, Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States This is where I head first to figure out the copyright status of a work. Peter's expanded it to point to international concerns as well. Thank you, Peter!
• Robert J. Kasunic, Kasunic.com The Copyright Law and Litigation Resource articles, legislation, cases and resources, a complete site by Robert J. Kasunic, Senior Attorney in the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office
• Librarians Index to the Internet, Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights, and Licensing
• Stanford University. Fairuse.stanford.edu   Good primary source site

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