fair use

[Robert De Lossa]

Responding to both Tall and Udut:

Section 107 of the Copyright Law of the U.S. covers fair use and is
somewhat ambiguous. There are four factors that determine fair use:
character of the use (commercial or non-profit; research or not); nature of
the work to be copied; "amount" and "substantiality" of the copied portion;
and, impact of the use on the "potential market for or value of the
copyrighted work." The interpretation of this changed greatly following a
1991 ruling against Kinko's in a Federal District Court in NY, which found
Kinko's guilty of violating the copyrighted work of eight publishers in
composing and disseminating academic course packs. Kinko's had to pay close
to 2 million dollars in the ensuing decision. Thus, it is not a
bureaucratic issue here, but prudence in the face of what is a new legal
precedence about "fair use." If you think about it, with shrinking markets
for academic material, the fourth condition for "fair use" also shrinks.
Almost any copying now can be seen to undermine the potential market for or
value of the work copied, if a publisher decides to go after someone for
copying. Obviously, they are unlikely to sue an academic for a single copy,
which might result in a decision that only demands legal fees and the cost
of a subscription to the journal (although a few suits like that would make
everyone think twice). Rather, they have gone after copy centers, which
stand to lose a lot.

In the wake of this, the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. was created as a
clearinghouse for copyright permissions. Many academic journals and
monograph series (including ours) have contractual arrangements with it
that stipulate what copying may be done and whether or not fees will be
charged (e.g., we charge .01/page/copy). CCC, Inc. is in turn empowered to
act as a legal agent to grant permission for reproduction of the
copyrighted material. You can call them at 978-750-8400 or look at
www.copyright.com. If you want a professional copy center to do the
copying, then you probably have to go about getting permission for the
copy. And note well, that it is not always the case that authors have the
right to give you permission to copy. You must verify the holder of the
copyright--and often authors are unsure or mistaken about who holds the
copyright. (If the publisher appears on the copyright page, then the author
needs to check his or her contract with the publisher for details. If the
author appears, then he or she can give the permission.) If the copyright
is held by the publisher, then you must go through its permissions officer
or an intermediary like CCC, Inc. Of course, the question of enforcement of
the law is another matter--if you make the copy yourself. Just make sure
your colleagues don't snitch on you.

Robert De Lossa, (among other things) permissions officer, HURI Publications

____________________________________________________
Robert De Lossa
Director of Publications
Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University
1583 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138
617-496-8768; fax. 617-495-8097
reply to: rdelossa at fas.harvard.edu
http://www.sabre.org/huri/