Re: Electronic Reserves

From: Bert Boyce <lsboyc[_at_]lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu>
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 1998 10:12:26 -0600

On 11/5/98, Daniel J. Schaeffer <daniel_schaeffer[_at_]kirkland.com> wrote:
>
> 1. Personal research and study is not specifically mentioned in the
> fair use section of the Copyright Act. It is probably a
> non-commercial purpose, so the first factor of the fair use test
> may weigh in a student's favor, but it's not an "exemption" under
> the fair use doctrine.

"... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright." and "the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes" If a student using an assigned journal article placed on reserve for him or her by an instructor in an academioc institution is not engaged in scholarship or research for an educational purpose, I guess I have no idea what these terms mean. I would think there is clearly no commercial purpose and the first factor is a slam dunk.

> 2. All of the article vs. part of the journal -- I suspect this weighs
> against students, as each article is probably the subject of separate
> copyright.

I would agree, but students may only copy portions they deem relevant to their interests, so one would have to look at the actual facts of each case. This is not completely against fair use factor 3.

> 3. No "belief" that it will affect sales of the journal? Whose belief?
> The students' beliefs are irrelevant, and your belief and mine are
> merely speculation as to the facts, which will be determined by the
> court. Clearly if every student had to buy a copy of the journal
> to get the article, the publisher/copyright holder would make more
> money. This is an effect on the market for the copyrighted work in
> question -- see the Texaco case (scientists making copies of journal
> articles to keep in files was not fair use).

There is no expectation of purchase by anyone. The choice is read the article on reserve in the library and take notes, or copy the article, or the relevant portions, and take it home and highlite it. Most will toss the copy at the completion of the course. This is so far from keeping selected files of copies for use on future commercial research projects (Texaco) that I think the student gets the nod on factor 4.

     As far as factor 2 goes, in most cases the material will be scholarly in nature making 2 a slam dunk as well.

     I have to believe that if a student making a copy of a paper on library reserve for his or her own use as part of a legitimate educational program is not protected by fair use, no one is.

                                               BRB

Bert R. Boyce, Professor & Dean
School of Library & Information Science
Louisiana State University
267 Coates Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

     (225)388-3158
FAX: (225)388-4581
LSBOYC[_at_]LSUVM.sncc.lsu.edu Received on Fri Nov 06 1998 - 16:14:33 GMT