RE: Fair use (RE: electronic journals CCC)

["Rick Anderson" <rickand@unr.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!

As I've said before (several times now) I don't think they assume that at
all.  I think they assume that people other than librarians may run amok
(either individually or in the aggregate) if electronic copies of their
articles start circulating as e-mail messages among the general public.  
For most publishers, there's probably not a huge amount of economic risk
involved there, but if some publishers think the risk is too high I'm
inclined to go along with them.  They usually know more about their costs
and risks than I do.


-------------
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