Re: Course packets questions

> Suppose a professor because of too many committee responsibilities etc
> cannot get the course material ready on time and the university copy
> center is so swamped that they have a month backlog taking care of
> other classes. One option is to make a copy of the material available
> in the main office and have each student come by, pick it up, go
> somewhere and copy it ,very inefficient and with 50 students this
> would take two months into the course. The second option is to let
> them use the department copier and do it on the spot, this tiesup the
> machine for oone hour for each student so the department cant get its
> own work done. Because the prof wants the stuff ready for the first
> class and to be more efficient in the department the prof has a
> secretary help out by making all the copies at once (uses a lot less
> energy) and then charges the students for the exact cost the department
> charges any budget for copying. This way students have all the material
> at the first class, there is no argument that they couldnt get to copy
> it etc etc. I recognize the law but what about education, efficiencies,
> energy use etc, isnt here a more important issue here.
>
> Ted Labuza
> <tplabuza[_at_]epx.cis.umn.edu>

Suppose a professor teaching a wine-tasting class because of too many responsibilities cannot go shopping for the wine before class starts, and the campus store doesn't even sell wine. One option is to have students each go and individually steal a bottle from a local liquor store, but that could take months if the students don't want it to look suspicious. Another option is to have the students order the wine to be delivered, one bottle at a time, and then steal it from the delivery guy each time he shows up, but again that could take months, and ties up the narrow alleyway leading to the department so the regular business of the department (mugging alumni?) can't be done. Because the prof wants the wine available for the first class and to be more efficient in the department the prof has a secretary help out by stealing all the bottles at once (uses a lot less energy) and then charges the students for their share of the secretary's time. This way students have all the wine at the first class, there is no argument that they couldn't get to steal it etc etc. I recognize the law but what about education, efficiencies, energy use etc, isn't there a more important issue here?

Yes, combining a large number of illegal acts to save time makes everything legal, at least when it's done for educational purposes. After all, you do eliminate the conspiracy aspect. :)

Use for education, in and of itself, is not a complete fair use defense against copyright infringement. Nor should it be, unless you want to eliminate scholarly publishers. Ask any director of any academic press how they would adjust if all sales of their books for use in academic courses were eliminated. Answer: they'd go out of business. (University presses of any reasonable size have the same pressure; while they can run at a loss, the loss has to be of an acceptable amount.)

Yours,
  Michael Bernstein
  Cascadilla Press
  michael[_at_]cascadilla.com Received on Wed Apr 10 1996 - 14:07:56 GMT