[Web4lib] Copyright Issues In Cataloging Free/Open Access PDF Publications / Resources?

[Mark Sandford]

If someone posts a PDF of their book or article online for the world
to view, there's no reason why you can't link to it.  This doesn't
really have anything to do with fair use.  If you tell someone that
NBC is broadcasting Spiderman 2, you're not violating copyright.  NBC
is freely distributing it (with permission) via the airwaves.  If you
copy it and redistribute it without permission, then you're in
violation.  If the original poster is posting the PDF illegally (ie
they aren't the copyright holder and don't have the holder's
permission) that's another story entirely, but my understanding of
copyright is that the person who posts it's legally at risk, not
anyone who points to it or reads it.

Nearly everything on the internet is copyrighted (as US law defines
it), with the exception of some of the content of US government (and
presumably at least some non-US government) websites.  What we do as
catalogers is fundamentally the same thing that Google or Yahoo does.
In fact, you can argue that what we do is more copyright friendly
since we generally don't cache anything and make it available through
other venues, but they sometimes do.  Either way, there'd be no point
in making it illegal to catalog (however broadly or narrowly we define
it) and link to online resources, since that's the fundamental process
that makes the internet usable.

Sorry if this became a bit philosophical!

Mark Sandford
Special Formats Cataloger
William Paterson University
(973)270-2437
sandfordm1 at wpunj.edu



On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 3:52 PM, McKiernan, Gerard [LIB]
<gerrymck at iastate.edu> wrote:
> Colleagues/
>
>
>
> Are you aware of any/all Copyright-related issues relating to the
> _Cataloging_
>
> of Internet/Web-based electronic publications by a library such that the
> catalog record includes a link to the resource?
>
>
>
> Yes. It's a common/long-standing practice (MARC 21 / Field 856)
>
> [ http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bd856.html
> <http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bd856.html>  ], but a colleague
> has mentioned that this practice is/may be in violation of U.S.
> copyright (News To Me [?]).
>
>
>
>>>Even IF there is law, would not The Fair Use Doctrine trump *Any*
> restriction?<<
>
>
>
> I am particularly interested in any copyright issues related to the
> cataloging of the PDF version of a copyrighted publication.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> /Gerry
>
>
>
> Gerry McKiernan
>
> Associate Professor
>
> Science and Technology Librarian
>
> Iowa State University Library
>
> Ames IA 50011
>
>
>
> gerrymck at iastate.edu <mailto:gerrymck at iastate.edu>
>
>
>
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> Hugo
>
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> <http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490>  ]
>
>
>
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>
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> <http://alternativeenergyblogs.blogspot.com/>  ]
>
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