Fair Use or Not Fair Use: That Is the Electronic Reserves Question

Legal aspects of the web

“…Information professionals should maintain a watching brief on legal developments in their countries and, where necessary, take appropriate legal advice or consult their professional associations. Indeed, they should take an active approach to these legal issues and lobby where appropriate to ensure that the law does not make their role even more difficult (Melamut et al, 2000).…”

“…One vital question is whether copyright law permits the employment of electronic reserves under the exceptions to copyright (known as fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K., and private copying in many other countries). Melamut, Thibodeau, and Albright (2000) consider this question in the U.S. context. The authors make a point that cannot be stressed too strongly: Copyright compliance has less to do with the law than it has to do with management of risk .…”

Toward a functional understanding of fair use in U.S. copyright law

“…In recent years numerous authors have examined fair use in light of existing and developing practices. In the academic setting reserves, including e-reserves and the delivery of service or documents, often dominate the review (Austin & Taylor, 2003;Crews, 1993Crews, , 1999Melamut, 2000;Melamut, Thibodeau, & Albright, 2000;Ou, 2003). If an "answer" is sought, the literature is quite lacking.…”