Re: use of electronic materials

On Wed, 22 Sep 93 19:43:18 -0400 <CNICOPY[_at_]charlie.usd.edu> said:
>If I had a paper copy of that manual, I could read it at home, in
>my office, in the library, in an airport terminal or at a meeting.

  No argument.

>There is no need to display or perform the manual. But if it is
>electronic, I have to display it on my screen to read it. And if
>I am located in a public place (as defined by the copyright law), that
>is a public display which must be authorized by the copyright law.

   I'd be VERY surprised if any intelligent judge (and I'm not going to suggest is an oxymoron....becuase it isn't) determined that your 'display' on the screen of your laptop computer is any different than your 'display' of the manual. It is just NOT the same as the 'display' of an NFL game on a big TV hanging over the bar, or a motion picture in a theater, or even some sort of public display kiosk.

   In either case of the manual an interloper or friend could read over your shoulder...but it would be more difficult to do so on at least the contemporary laptops.

>find that the law allows us to do many things with the book, that
>it doesn't allow with the electronic version because of performance
>and display rights.

  I understand that 'performance and display' are fairly well linked in the current law, but I still hope and pray that there will be judged to be two different kinds of display. 'Real' display like on a public tv or screen, and 'personal display' on your laptop.

>the legislative history says that means it cannot be a machine
>readable form. So how can I make a preservation copy of an electronic
>work, especially one that is not a computer program?

  However, ALL copies are machine readable these days...or almost all. Decent scanning and OCR software can read almost any font, and if a Newton can read handwriting with some training, it could also learn to read most mss.

  Also, in the sense of bitmapped images, ALL texts are machine readable. After all, Uncover and others are in the business of distributing digital bitmapped copies of articles and such. Yes, they pay the royalties (or they pass it on from the customer to the publisher).

  It will be interesting to learn what 'machine readable' means in the future.

dan

  Dan Lester                          Internet: alileste[_at_]idbsu.idbsu.edu
  Network Information Coordinator     Bitnet:   ALILESTE[_at_]IDBSU
  Boise State University Library
  Boise, Idaho  83725                 In the kingdom of the blind, the
  208-385-1235                        one-eyed man is king.  Erasmus. 1523