New Statement on Fair Use & Electronic Reserves]

["Olga Francois" <ofrancois@xxxxxxxx>]

FYI...

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ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 12, Number 98
November 19, 2003

In This Issue: New Statement on Fair Use and Electronic Reserves

Since the CONFU (Conference on Fair Use) discussions in the late
1990's, there have been numerous discussions concerning "best practices"
of electronic reserve systems or e-reserves.  The library and higher
education associations did not endorse the CONFU discussions because the
draft e-reserves guidelines were both highly proscriptive and did not
provide the necessary flexibility characteristic of fair use. Some
libraries chose to follow the CONFU guidelines that did emerge even
though those guidelines - like many copyright guidelines - do not have
the force or effect of law.  Other libraries chose to address reserve
practices based on the fair use doctrine (17 U.S.C ' 107).  

With the passage of the Technology, Education and Copyright
Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002, librarians have expressed new
interest in e-reserve practices.  TEACH - a copyright amendment that
provides new exemptions for public performance and display of digital
works protected by copyright and the use of digital technologies to
transmit copyrighted works for educational purposes - does not and was
not intended to address e-reserves.  In response to confusion about
TEACH and ongoing uncertainty regarding e-reserves, the following
document - endorsed by the Association of College and Research Libraries
(ACRL), ALA, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the
Association of American Law Libraries (AALL), the Medical Library
Association (MLA), and the Special Libraries Association (SLA) - seeks
to capture how institutions are applying fair use in the development of
electronic reserves systems.  Our thanks to Georgia Harper, Manager of
the Intellectual Property Section of the University of Texas System
Office of General Counsel, and Peggy Hoon, Scholarly Communications
Librarian at North Carolina State University, for their assistance in
the drafting of and commenting on this e-reserves statement.

If you have questions about the e-reserves statement, contact Carrie
Russell, Copyright Specialist at ALA's Office for Information Technology
Policy at crussell@xxxxxxxxxxxx 
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http://www.arl.org/access/eres/eres.shtml