Latest Copyright FlameFest

[CMUNSON]

     Yes, copyright guidelines and fair use messages are posted over 
     thousands of library copiers, but librarians do not hover around the 
     copy machine to "police" these guidelines. For the most part, the 
     library does its legal duty in posting the message and leaves its 
     users on the "honor system". Of course, there is a much more 
     cumbersome process when it comes to securing permissions for putting 
     materials in reserves, thanks to the infamous Kinko's case, among 
     others.
     
     You all shouldn't be surprised that there is dissent over current 
     copyright laws. With the trend inching towards the extreme 
     privitization of information, those of use who would like things to go 
     in the opposite direction are going to speak up. I think we should all 
     be disturbed by the recent international convention on copyright and 
     "intellectual property". I'm disturbed that they want to revise the 
     laws so that copyrights go back 75 years, or last that long, or 
     something like that. This makes it harder for those of us who are 
     trying to bring old texts onto the Internet. Why can't I take 
     something from the 1940s, written by a dead author, and it make it 
     available to the world?
     
     I didn't become a librarian in order to police anybody.
     
     Chuck Munson


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Latest Copyright FlameFest
Author:  "Wilfred (Bill) Drew Jr." <drewwe at morrisville.edu> at Internet
Date:    1/27/97 6:58 AM


Discussions such as this are what keep this list honest and alive.  We 
need such discussions and I hope this one continues for a while.  There 
has been no real name calling.  There have been differences in opinion 
and misstatements by some about what the leagal obligations of libraries 
and librarians are.  Wether we like it or not we are copyright police. We 
constantly monitor copyright and fairuse every time we limit faculty 
members to five copies of a magazine article on course reserve or every 
time we insist they put a textbook on reserve instead of copying a 
complete chapter.Without the copyright law I would not be getting any 
income form my paper based writing nor would my publisher.  YTake a look 
at the copright statement usually prominently posted over any copy 
machines in libraries in the United States.  Libraries and librarians are 
rsponsible for enforcement of copyright and fairuse in bothe the legal 
sense and moral/ethical sense.
--
Wilfred Drew (Call me "Bill") Systems Librarian (also reference)
SUNY College of Ag. & Tech.;   P.O. Box 902;  Morrisville, NY 13408-0902 
E-mail: DREWWE at MORRISVILLE.EDU  Cooltalk:drewwe at 136.204.83.8 
powwow:drewwe at wedrew.lib.morrisville.edu
Phone: (315)684-6055 or 684-6060 Fax: (315)684-6115 
New Homepage: http://www.snymor.edu/~drewwe/
Not Just Cows: http://www.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/njc/ 
LibraryLinks: http://www.morrisville.edu/pages/library/ SUNYLA'97: 
http://www.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/sunyla/sunyla97.htm --