June 2010 Edition
Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town
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The purpose of this section is to outline the lawful uses of copyrighted works by individuals, libraries, and educational institutions in the electronic environment. Representatives of the following associations advocate the arguments below:
American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Association of Academic Health Sciences Library Directors, Association of Research Libraries, Medical Library Association and the Special Libraries Association.
'The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labour of authors, but "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." To this end, copyright assures authors the right to their original expression, but encourages others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work. This result is neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means by which copyright advances the progress of science and art.' - US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
It follows that the benefits of the new technologies should flow to the public as well as to copyright proprietors. As more information becomes available only in electronic formats, the public's legitimate right to use copyrighted material must be protected. In order for copyright to truly serve its purpose of "promoting progress," the public's right of fair use must continue in the electronic era, and these lawful uses of copyrighted works must be allowed without individual transaction fees.
Without infringing copyright, the public has a right to expect:
to read, listen to, or view publicly marketed copyrighted material privately, on site or remotely
to browse through publicly marketed copyrighted material
to experiment with variations of copyrighted material for fair use purposes, while preserving the integrity of the original
to make or have made for them a first generation copy for personal use of an article or other small part of a publicly marketed copyrighted work or a work in a library's collection for such purpose as study, scholarship, or research
to make transitory copies if ephemeral or incidental to a lawful use and if retained only temporarily
Without infringing copyright, non-profit libraries on behalf of their clientele, should be able:
to use electronic technologies to preserve copyrighted materials in their collections
to provide copyrighted materials as part of electronic reserve room service
to provide copyrighted materials as part of electronic inter-library loan service
to avoid liability, after posting appropriate copyright notices, for the unsupervised actions of their users
Users, libraries, and educational institutions have a right to expect:
that the terms of licenses will not restrict fair use or other lawful library or educational uses
that U.S. government works and other public domain materials will be readily available without restrictions and at a government price not exceeding the marginal cost of dissemination
that rights of use for non-profit education apply in face-to-face teaching and in transmittal or broadcast to remote locations where educational institutions of the future must increasingly reach their students
Carefully constructed copyright guidelines and practices have emerged for the print environment to ensure that there is a balance between the rights of users and those of authors, publishers, and copyright owners. New understandings, developed by all stakeholders, will help to ensure that this balance is retained in a rapidly changing electronic environment.
The above working statement addresses lawful uses of copyrighted works in both the print and electronic environments.