McGeveran, William and Fisher, William W., "The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age" (August 2006). Berkman Center

Research Publication No. 2006-09 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=923465

 

Description:

This is a report on a yearlong study produced by The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. It looks at the obstacles that Fair Use law and copyright owners create in the process of attempting to further develop the full potential of the educational uses of technology. The report identifies four main problematic areas:

a.     The lack of clarity within the copyright law.

b.    The large adoption of digital rights that keeps users from accessing content.

c.     The increasing amount of licensing that creates mounting paperwork for users to overcome.

d.    The extreme practices by gatekeepers.

 

Analysis:

This report speaks of the problematic nature of copyright laws and current practices of Fair Use. It informs the readers about the great wall that is being created between students and the materials that should be available for their education and about the perils that such a state of affairs brings to the future of education. At the same time, the report effectively documents and clearly identifies the top four obstacles. Thus, it gives readers a reachable solution and concludes with a series of sound recommendations that if applied, will bring much clarity and fairness to the tense relationships between copyright owners with professors, scholars and artists who claim Fair Use.    

 

 

Traditionally, librarians have been viewed as gatekeepers (among other things). However, Librarians (for the most part) view themselves as catalysts helping patrons getting the material they want as quickly and as "painlessly" as possible. For most patrons the ideal librarian is one who can find whatever information they need quickly, easily, possibly be able to teach them how to do it themselves, and -- most importantly -- do all of this for free. Most librarians, I assert, want to be the patron's ideal librarian. So, why then are librarians gatekeepers -- shouldn't librarians be ignoring copyright all-together in order to be the ideal librarian? The answer is that most librarians don't feel as if copyright law is some moral code they must abide by; rather, most librarians are afraid their library is going to get sued. Is having one's library being sued a legitimate fear for librarians? I argue that it is not a legitimate fear. In addition, library's and librarians have come to a breaking point in regards to copyright. Library's can barely afford the high prices for copyrighted material and most librarians believe there needs to be a universal embrace of open access in order for libraries to continue providing the services they have historically provided. Librarians need to be rebellious against copyright in order to push publishers away from price-gouging and the strangle-hold they have over their content. If librarians adopt an end-to-end policy, learn to circumvent copyright law as legally as possible, and know how likely it is that their library will be sued, then librarians will finally be taking a truly proactive and rebellious stance against copyright.

The above article is a PR address from the Association of American Publishers regarding the infringement lawsuit brought up on Georgia State University by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and SAGE Publications. The document gives the reasons why these three publishers felt it necessary to bring up charges against GSU and why it is important that the copyright they hold over their published works is important (mainly because of the significant funds they spend publishing their works).

 

http://publishers.org/main/PressCenter/documents/GSUlawsuitcomplaint.pdf

 

The above link directs you to the legal complaint in its original form. Using the above legal cliam and the press release to help decipher and guide me through this legal document will help me to better understand why the publishers feel they have been wronged by Georgia State University. The infringements listed by Georgia State University have most assuredly been facilitated by the library/libraries of GSU or at least exacerbated by the library/libraries.

 

I will use the above article as a way of understanding what was it exactly that publishers feel are significant reasons to bring up suit against an entity. By examining the stated reasons for the lawsuit, I could further research as to what could be done to eliminate the possibility of being sued for supplying copyrighted works to students, faculty, and staff by the university library. The above articles will help me to define in my essay what is sufficient cause for a publisher to take up suit against a university / library.

 

Note: Lexis Nexis doesn't give persistent links (or else I am unable to find where they do) in order to retrieve this article simply search for "a lay perspective on the copyright wars" with only the legal box checkmarked and it will be the first result.

 

 

 

In this Lecture, Columbia University's University Librarian, James G. Neal, addresses the current environment of libraries in regards to copyright and open access. Neal's lecture mostly addresses the findings of the 108 Study Group which was formed to research copyright. Neal explains the current state of copyright, the findings of the 108 Study Group, and the framework necessary in order to facilitate a more open environment for publications and libraries. Neal's lecture defines the library as an all encompassing entity which disseminates information, a center for research, a publisher in its own right. Because of the library's role as a center for just about everything scholarly, the library has a vision of embracing legacy as well as current trends. The library is an information repository and a portal to information. Serving so many roles simultaneously makes the library at the forefront of the copyright war.

 

In my essay it will be important to state why it is the duty of the librarian to rebel against copyright in order to push for more open access. Neal helps define the library as the center of the copyright war, the very front of the action. By citing Neal and his 108 Study Group's findings, I will be able to convey the importance of the librarian to stand up against copyright in order to defend the very embodiment and idea of the library itself. Neal's article also gives information on the opninion of librarians and library organizations on the issue of copyright and open access. Using some of this information will help me to define how to faciliate a better enviornment for the sharing of intellectual materials.

 

Crews, Kenneth D. "The Law of Fair Use and the Illusion of Fair-Use Guidelines." Ohio State Law Journal 62 (2001): 599-702.
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/lawjournal/issues/volume62/number2/crews.pdf

Description:In this article, Dr. Crews looks at the historical development and use of guidelines in Fair Use. The author uses government documents and court rulings to demonstrate that the guidelines are basically irrelevant to the Fair Use and Copyright laws. Furthermore, the article sets out to demonstrate that in practice such guidelines are an obstacle in the development of truth and understanding of the Fair Use laws.

Analysis:The article criticizes the development of guidelines, because as Dr. Crews demonstrates well, they have not been of help to Fair Use users and have not clarified or aided anyone who has faced the Fair Use law. The author's argument goes further stating that guidelines or the illusion of the guidelines indeed have mislead the consumers (the public) into believing that they possess an agency value and that they would be universally recognized in a court of law. Dr. Crews documents how such has not been the practice in reality and that in fact certain users would have been better served if guidelines were not employed at all and they just focused strictly on the preexisting laws.

 

News from the Future of Public Media Posted by Patricia Aufderheide on May 7, 2009 at 4:12 PM.http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/blogs/future_of_public_media/dmca_fair_use_and_educators/

Summary:

This news report from The American University Center for Social Media reports on the recent efforts of media professors and professor from other disciplines to obtain renewals and extensions on exceptions in copyright law. After battling industry lawyers three years ago, the reports say professors such as Dr. Peter Decherney are again in the courtroom to once again attempt to make cases on behalf of educators and their students.

Analysis:

Coming for the Center for Social Media the report is very sympathetic to the professors who are trying to convince the industry and the lawmakers that when it comes to education, the rules for copyright use should be different, because (among other things) it is in the best interest of society, and because profits are not derived as a result of materials used in the classroom.

 

The Growth of Intellectual Property:A History of the Ownership of Ideas in the United StatesWilliam W. Fisher III. forthcoming in Eigentumskulturen im Vergleich (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999) http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/property99/history.html

Description:

This publication is best described as an historical and outlined recompilation of who or what created legislation such as copyright law and intellectual property. It includes the rights to protect an author's "original" work as well as the protection of celebrities who wish to profit from their own image.

Analysis:

William W. Fisher's publication on the historical growth of intellectual property in the United States summarizes the history of copyright law while at the same time takes the reader on a journey that both explains and criticizes the forces that had taken copyright law to the place that it occupies today. Fisher identifies three main forces that impact the growth of intellectual property: economics, ideology and politics. He consistently emphasizes that for the most part and throughout the entire process, the consumer (the public) has been left out of the discussion. Thus, the growth of copyright law has been primarily developed and described by those having a personal interest in it and wish to profit from it. Dr. Fisher calls into questions ideas such as "original writing" pointing out that writers always support and draw their work from previous work. This is a very well documented and well written article that at the same time points out the problems with intellectual property and on some level encourages readers to develop their own agency in order to prevent the erosion of consumer protections such as Fair Use.

 

This resource aims to address as many legal aspects of copyright infringement that the site's authors deem are most relevant to instruction and libraries. The site acts as a bibliography or index to various topics within coypright right law and links the user to a main source of information on each specific topic. In addition to linking to various topics on copyright law, it also links to legal information on copyright law and how it pertains to libraries and instruction. Under each section and sub-headings are abstracts explaining what is covered under each topic.

The following resource is an invaluable tool for addressing specific copyright concerns of libraries. After researching what each of the concerns are and making note of them, I will then be able to click through to find out more information on each specific topic. Though likely not a comprehensive source of copyright law which specifically affects libraries, it seems to be fairly wide ranging and well written.