Semantics etc.

This from Peter Suber’s Open Access News:

More on electronic reserves: Anick Jesdanun, A different sort of campus copyright fight, MSNBC, May 21, 2005.

Excerpt: ‘There’s been a change in Ellen Lichtenstein’s study patterns. For half her classes this past year, she no longer had to visit a library to get the reading materials professors had placed on reserve. Instead, she only needed Internet access and a password. ‘It’s as simple as logging into my e-mail account, clicking on a few links and printing it,’ said Lichtenstein, 21, a New York University communications senior from Birmingham, Ala. ‘There’s no going to the library, waiting on line, waiting to Xerox it, there’s none of that.’ And publishing companies are worried precisely because of that ease and convenience _ it’s another way for publishers to lose sales. The Association of American Publishers already has contacted one school, the University of California, San Diego, claiming ‘blatantly infringing use is being made of numerous books, journals and other copyrighted works.’…U.S. copyright law offers greater leeway for noncommercial uses like education, but such ‘fair use’ exemptions are not automatic. Rather, courts ultimately must apply a four-part test that balances, among other things, the amount copied and its effect on potential sales. A password can help but does not guarantee an exemption….Many librarians and professors see electronic postings as akin to library reserves, but publishers see them more as course packs subject to permission and royalty….For a summer class on copyright, New York University professor Siva Vaidhyanathan plans to post all of his law review assignments online, figuring that it’s legal as long as it’s limited to enrolled students. ‘We feel pretty confident what we are doing is OK, although I know enough about the unpredictability of fair use to know a case might not go our way,’ said Vaidhyanathan, who has written books critical of modern copyright laws. ‘I could get sued this summer for doing this.”

I suspect that making electronic readings available behind a password is fairly common for most of us. I certainly do it all the time for my courses.

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