This Book and the Importance of Copyright
THE ADVANCEMENT OF innovative education, librarianship, and scholarship has become increasingly entangled with copyright law. Creative uses of protected works and new applications of digital technologies have roused complex questions about the appropriate uses of copyrighted works as well as the ownership and management of the legal rights. As we strive to better understand the issues, we are seeing steady transformation of our efforts, as well as incremental change in the law. Since the previous edition of this book, courts have handed down new rulings on many issues, including fair use and digital rights management. Congress, on the other hand, has confronted difficult issues—such as the use of orphan works—but has largely failed to pass major legislation directly centered on the challenges confronted by educators, librarians, researchers, and others. Meanwhile, research and education seem to be routinely reinvented with the creation of new software and technological devices.
This mix of change and inactivity has motivated private parties to take the lead in shaping some implications of copyright law. Creative Commons has become a salient point of rebellion against expanding rights. The open access movement calls for sharing rights of use. Institutional policies and agreements clarify rights of ownership and works made for hire. Educators and librarians steadily grapple with the need to define a standard for fair use. The proposed settlement of the Google Books litigation would establish its own regime of rules for creating a digital collection of copyrighted materials, although the settlement remains as of this writing under ongoing public and judicial scrutiny. Library acquisitions are shifting steadily toward electronic resources that are acquired under license agreements that define the terms of use of the journals, books, and many other works in the licensed collections. Textbooks and other instructional materials are now freely available online and reconceived as wikis and downloads. Such private agreements and pursuits are becoming a dominant force on the shape of legal rights and responsibilities.
Nevertheless, none of these private arrangements would be wise or possible without a solid grounding in copyright law. Parties would be remiss to make policy, negotiate agreements, or enter into licenses without knowing what the law already provides. Copyright is the foundation of licenses and other bargains. Copyright is the starting point for drafting and negotiating effective deals. Without knowing the law, you are at a disadvantage when determining whether your policy or contract is expanding your rights, giving you something you already have, or taking away opportunities that the law has handed you. Moreover, regardless of the trend toward contracts and licenses, the rapid shifts in materials, demands, creativity, and distribution networks mean that we will always need to return to principles of copyright to determine fundamental rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. What works are protected? Who owns the rights? How does fair use apply? How does the law apply to library services, or to music and recordings, or to distance learning? This book addresses exactly these questions.
We also need to return to the fundamentals of copyright because as educators, researchers, librarians, and students, we continue to engage in new ventures. We steadily digitize and upload diverse materials. We launch websites for every program and project. Libraries obtain federal grants to establish vast digital collections as open resources for any user on the Internet. We download materials from databases and manipulate and incorporate them into online instruction. An understanding of copyright and our ability and willingness to work with the law can help make these important endeavors successful.
Objectives of This Book
The primary purpose of this book is to provide a basis for understanding and working with the copyright issues of central importance to education, librarianship, and scholarship. This book is centered on the law. It is not about licensing, nor does it include more than a general mention of the proposed Google Books settlement. Copyright law bestows automatic protection for printed works, software, art, websites, and nearly everything else we create and use in our teaching and research. The protection lasts for decades, and we can infringe the copyright with simple photocopying or elaborate digitizing and uploading.
Fortunately, copyright law includes a number of exceptions to owners’ rights, such as fair use. Several other detailed provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act specifically benefit education and learning. These provisions allow library copying, permit performances and displays in classrooms or in distance learning, and sanction backup copies of computer software. This book will acquaint readers with the vital role that these exceptions play in the functioning of copyright and in the growth of knowledge. This book also offers strategies and techniques for reaping the benefits of these rights of use.
Taking Control
As professionals in the world of education and librarianship, we can enjoy the law’s benefits only if we take control. We need to understand the rules of the copyright world. We must comprehend our rights as owners and as users. We ultimately need to identify alternatives that the law allows and make decisions about copyright that best advance our objectives as teachers, learners, and information professionals. If we do not manage copyright to our advantage, we will lose valuable opportunities for achieving our teaching and research missions. If we do not manage our own needs, someone else will make the decisions for us.
This book demonstrates that much of copyright law is within the reach of professionals with diverse backgrounds. Admittedly, some aspects of the law will be bewildering and occasionally unworkable. But most issues about ownership, publication, library services, and fair use are within our grasp, and we can make practical sense of them. Copyright does not have to be an annoying or threatening nuisance that merely burdens our work. With a fresh understanding of the law, it can actually support teachers and scholars who are striving to meet their goals each day.