RE: Fair use (RE: electronic journals CCC)

["Rick Anderson" <rickand@unr.edu>]

>  According to the restrictions many publishers
> want in place, we CANNOT print off a copy of that article from the online
> version.  We have to go to the stacks, pull the hardcopy, copy it, and
> then send/fax.  In many cases the copies look exactly the same, thanks to
> pdf files and no-one can really tell the difference.  So why make such a
> fuss?  Makes no sense.

See, this is the thing: I think it does make sense because it's vastly
easier to redistribute an e-mail message than it is to redistribute a
physical copy.  Yes, it's certainly possible to scan a physical copy and
redistribute it electronically, but forwarding an e-mail message is easier
by orders of magnitude.

> As currently written and as I, and many others, understand them, the u.s.
> copyright laws, including fair use, make no distinction between print,
> online, or any other format of material - they even include phonorecords
> in the law.  What the publishers are now trying to do is to circumvent the
> fair use laws by claiming that online journals are exempt from some of
> those laws.

No, they're not.  What they're doing is writing licenses that proscribe
behaviors that would otherwise be legal.  There's nothing wrong with this;
in fact, all of us submit to such contracts all the time.  (There's no
law, for example, that tells me what color of shirt to wear.  But if I go
to work for a company and sign a contract saying I'll wear a red shirt on
the job, I'm legally bound to do so.)

> The copyright laws at this point do NOT reflect that view.
> We should not sign contract which remove fair use rights as provided in
> the law.  Do these publisher licenses supercede the law?

Sort of, yes.  See above.

-------------
Rick Anderson
Electronic Resources/Serials Coordinator
The University Libraries
University of Nevada, Reno
1664 No. Virginia St.
Reno, NV  89557
PH  (775) 784-6500 x273
FX  (775) 784-1328
rickand@unr.edu