RE: [digital-copyright] Re: Reproducing visual art

["Nichols, Brad" <jbn16@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I whole heartedly agree with Brandon's position on this - every business faces
legal risk every day - that doesn't mean you don't take informed risks
otherwise nothing would ever get accomplished.  Somewhat off point but not by
much is the fact that the Scholarly Kitchen took down blog post due to a
simple threat of litigation from a publisher that didn't like what was being
said. When we fear litigation so much that we fail to exercise our rights  -
whether it be copyright or free speech - then we have lost the battle already.

Brad




J. Bradley Nichols, JD, MA
University Copyright Officer
Texas State University
Albert B. Alkek Library #232
601 University Drive
San Marcos, TX 78666
512-245-2288 | jbn16@xxxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: Brandon Butler [mailto:brandon@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 12:49 PM
To: digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [digital-copyright] Re: Reproducing visual art

I have to respectfully disagree with Robert Link. Of course every institution
has to decide for itself how much risk it can tolerate in order to vindicate a
principle (and serve its mission!), but the principle of fair use is extremely
important for scholarship and teaching. The idea that risk of lawsuits should
always be reduced to zero by obtaining permissions is extremely dangerous and
could do great harm. Educational institutions (*all
*institutions) take reasonable legal risks all the time, risks that are
justified by sufficiently strong countervailing priorities and interests.
There is no good reason to treat copyright any differently than we treat other
areas of law, which are inevitably subject to uncertainty and risk.

I love open access, CC licensing, and the like, but to treat
copyright-encumbered culture as if it doesn't existto leave it out of our
lectures, our scholarship, etc.would be a huge injustice to culture. Maybe
I've misunderstood Robert, but just in case I haven't, I wanted to make that
point!

Best,
Brandon

Brandon Butler | Director of Public Policy Initiatives | Association of
Research Libraries | brandon@xxxxxxx | @ARLpolicy | w: 202.296.2296 x156 |
m: 301.965.0293 | 21 Dupont Circle, DC