Re: Re: Unreferenced Notes from an Instructor

The original message did not state whether the book was still available in print. Would it be fair use if a professor summarized a book that had been out of print for a few decades? (Assume that the professor attributed the book to the original author and provided citations for any direct quotations.)

Denise

--On Tuesday, May 10, 2005 6:20 PM -0400 Steven Jamar <sjamar[_at_]law.howard.edu> wrote:

> One of the rights that attach to a copyrighted work is the right to make
> or license derivative works. The notes on the book is a derivative work
> (probably). Making notes for oneself is certainly fair use, even it one
> is making a derivative work.
>
> When you then distribute the work, you are then moving into a realm
> where there could be a greater impact than you making your own notes.
> The notes might be a substitute (like Cliffs Notes) for the book itself
> and might discourage purchase of the book and might impact a market for
> such notes, which market is for the author to exploit in the first
> instance.
>
> The Indiana U checklist is good -- but it does not really capture fully
> the ways courts look at and look for economic impact.
>
> I would refer her question to the school's general counsel office. In
> my judgment it seems to be a close enough question that if I were in
> your position I would not want to advise her one way or the other.
>
> FWIW, personally, I would distribute them and argue that it is fair use,
> but then I am an advocate of broader fair use rather than narrower and
> so would be acting to stretch the boundaries rather than giving
> conservative legal advice to keep a client out of trouble. These are
> two different ways of approaching the problem.
>
> Steve
>
>
>
> On May 10, 2005, at 4:00 PM, Meghann Matwichuk wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I am a new subscriber to this listserv and look forward to learning
>> more about copyright issues through the discussions that take place
>> here.
>>
>> I've received the following request from an instructor:
>>
>> "I have read a great book and taken notes on each chapter. I have
>> typed them up and am wondering if I could give them to the
>> students. They do NOT include references and quotations because I
>> state at the beginning that they are all the author's words and
>> voice and none of it can be attributed to me in any way,
>> whatsoever. It is a summary of each chapter. Let me know if you
>> think I should NOT let the students have a copy of the summary. I
>> don't want to get into trouble and more important, I don't want to
>> encourage plagiarism in any form. If by giving them a copy of my
>> notes from the book, they begin to think they don't have to use
>> footnotes or that it is ok to use someone else's voice, I would
>> feel tremendous regret."
>>
>> My instinct is that she is within fair use in distributing these
>> notes to her students. I plan on referring her the following
>> checklist:
>>
>> http://copyright.iupui.edu/checklist.htm
>>
>> Any thoughts / opinions on the matter? I suppose I'm just looking
>> for some reinforcement before I respond to her -- or to hear if I'm
>> missing something obvious! Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> ******************************
>> Meghann R. Matwichuk
>> Instructional Media Department
>> Morris Library
>> University of Delaware
>> 181 S. College Ave.
>> Newark, DE 19717
>> (302) 831-1475
>>
>
> --
> Prof. Steven D. Jamar vox: 202-806-8017
> Howard University School of Law fax: 202-806-8567
> 2900 Van Ness Street NW mailto:sjamar[_at_]law.howard.edu
> Washington, DC 20008 http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar/
>
> "The most precious things one gets in life are not those one gets for
> money."
>
> Albert Einstein
>
>
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Denise Troll Covey
Principal Librarian for Special Projects Carnegie Mellon University Libraries
4909 Frew St., Hunt Library
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-268-8599
412-268-2793 (fax) Received on Thu May 12 2005 - 01:05:00 GMT