E-reserves, e-journals & copyrights

[Ken Irwin]

Hi folks,

Has anyone explored/determined the legality of using PDF files from 
subscription e-journal archives (e.g. ProQuest Direct) in online course 
reserves? The alternative would be to scan xeroxes of the originals. The 
advantage would be that UMI does a better job digitizing than we do, and we 
don't have to do the work. In either case, each classes' materials would be 
password protected.

I can envision a variety of different possibilities including:

1) No, thou shalt not use PDFs from e-journals in online reserves
2) You can use them only if you also subscribe to the journal in print
3) Sure, not a problem.

Does anyone have a clue what the real answer is?

Thanks,
Ken Irwin
Wittenberg University