Re: library reserve books

On Wed, 01 Mar 2000, Wendy Lewis <wlewis[_at_]saddleback.cc.ca.us> wrote:
>
> The Associated Students Group on our college campus is proposing to
> fund the purchase of every textbook in current use by the professors.
> They propose also, to place these textbooks in the library, on
> reserve, so that students may always have access to them. The
> librarians have huge concerns about copyright infringement. There
> will be a meeting on Friday to discuss the matter. Can anyone (or
> anyones) on this list quote chapter and verse about the pitfalls of
> this plan to place textbooks on reserve?
>
> The librarians would like to go to the meeting well-prepared...

Your librarians are correct in being concerned about copyright infringement. Purchasing copies of texts does not include permission to make copies of the texts (or portions of the texts) to put on reserve. And "having access" to the textbooks usually means making copies of the texts, or portions of the texts. This is where the potential for copyright infringement is high.

Libraries are permitted to make copies of texts for the following reasons:

   to replace a damaged or lost copy

   for use as a backup, security copy

   at the request of a library patron for a copy of an excerpt from a    work, but only if (1) the copy becomes the property of the patron;    and (2) the library displays a warning ragarding illegal uses of    copyrighted material on its request form and where orders for copies    are accepted;

   at the request of a library patron for a copy of an entire work if    the library determines that a copy of the work can't be obtained    at a fair price

   AND (1) the copy becomes the property of the patron and (2) the    library displays a warning regarding illegal uses of copyrighted    material on its request form and where orders for copies are accepted

Four factors determine "fair use" -- copying without the permission of the copyright holder.

   the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is    of a commercial nature or is for non-profit educational purposes;

   the nature of the copyrighted work;

   the amount and substantiality of the portion of the work used in    relation of the copyrighted work as a whole; and

   the effect of the use in question upon the potential market for or    value of the copyrighted work

*the bullet points above come from The Copyright Primer, developed and written by the AAP Rights and Permissiosn Advisory Committee

It is the last factor that could cause the greatest potential for infringement because if a student makes a copy of a required text rather than purchasing the required text, this obviously effects the sale of that text.

NACS (The National Association for College Stores) and AAP (Association of American publishers) have an excellent booklet titled Questions and Answers on Copyright for the Campus Community which is undoubtedly available on your campus.

Carline Haga
<carline.haga[_at_]thomsonlearning.com> Received on Thu Mar 02 2000 - 18:37:42 GMT