RE: Fair use (RE: electronic journals CCC)

[Kathryn Ryan-Zeugner <Kathryn.M.Ryan-Zeugner.1@nd.edu>]

I still don't understand this problem.  ILL Librarians probably understand
the copyright law and the principle of "fair use" better than anyone else
on the planet.  Most are positively scrupulous about following the
guidelines. Why do publishers assume we are suddenly going to run amuck if
allowed to deliver something electronically!  Prohibiting ILL does not
eliminate the problem of the ease of delivering items to millions if
someone is so inclined.

Kathie Ryan-Zeugner
Reference/Collection Development
114 Hesburgh Library
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN  46556
Ryan-Zeugner.1@nd.edu   
Fax: (219)631-8887 
PH:  (219(631-6683
 

At 06:50 PM 5/8/01 EDT, you wrote:
>> Show me data to support the assertion that allowing
>> electronic distribution would result in the kind of scenario you describe.
>
>OK, here's the data: I have a distribution list in my e-mail address book
>that reaches just under 3,000 people.  If this message had an article
>attached to it, I could forward that article to every one of those people
>in a matter of three mouseclicks.  That's considerably less time and
>effort than it would take me to print out that same article and bring it
>home to show my wife.  Tom, in a previous message, points out that someone
>who is out to "cheat the copyright laws" will do so regardless of format,
>and he may be right (though I have a hard time picturing this person
>making and mailing out 3,000 copies).  But I think copyright owners are
>less concerned about willful pirates than they are about people who don't
>understand the difference between fair and unfair use (of which there are
>many) and who will blithely forward an article to an e-mail list or a
>group of colleagues (who will send it to their colleagues and so on)
>without any ill intention.
>
>Would that scenario justify copyright holders in screaming and running
>around in circles?  No.  Does it justify them in saying "You have to
>fulfill ILL requests using paper copies instead of electronic ones"?  
>Yes, I think so.  When they don't impose such restrictions, I'm a happy
>guy.  When they do, I understand.  Seems like common sense to me.
>
>-------------
>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