RE: OA Mandates, Embargoes, and the "Fair Use" Button

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

> You may consult with copyright lawyers if you wish. Fair use is 
> not a right that a copyright transfer agreement can take away 
> from anyone, especially the author!

Not to pick on you, Stevan, but this is a point that should be 
clarified: like many legal rights, fair use rights most certainly 
can be waived as a matter of contractual agreement.  If you sign 
a contract that says you will not redistribute even single copies 
of the work in question, then you'll be legally bound to abide by 
it.  (It would be silly to agree to such a term, but that doesn't 
make it legally unconscionable.)  Legal rights don't trump 
contractual obligations -- in fact, exactly the opposite is true. 
The whole purpose of a contract is to define mutual rights and 
obligations that are not otherwise granted or required as a 
matter of law.

---
Rick Anderson
Dir. of Resource Acquisition
Univ. of Nevada, Reno Libraries
rickand@unr.edu