Recorded music and fair use

Hello,

I recently took an online course on copyright and the following scenario came up in the discussion. I've researched this in several places already and I'm astounded by the different interpretations and practices. Could anyone else here shed some more light on this?

A professor teaching a music class creates a burned CD that contains copies of entire tracks from different sound recordings. To clarify things with an example, let's say that there were 4 tracks copied respectively from 4 different CDs on this burned CD. The copies of these tracks are needed to help the students prepare for an exam and the professor would like for the library to place the burned CD on reserve. Is this regarded as a fair use and would the library be in violation of copyright if it placed this item on reserve?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

-- 
Tammy Ravas
Interim Coordinator of the Music Library
Assistant Music Librarian
Theatre Subject Specialist
University of Houston
e-mail: ravas[_at_]uh.edu
ph. 713-743-3196
fax. 713-743-9918