Librarians Acting as Copyright Managers

[Cross-posted please excuse duplication]

How many librarians have not dealt with a copyright issue? 
I am 
posting an article on the role of librarians vis-a-vis
copyright 
law, on behalf of Lesley Ellen Harris (http://copyrightlaws.com
). 
The article is published in SLA Information Outlook, January

2008.

Sincerely,

Amritha
amrithacopyrightlaws.com

****

*Librarians Without Lawyers
Librarians Acting as Copyright Managers

Copyright Law Affects Us All*

Copyright law is complicated - even for lawyers - and even
for 
copyright lawyers who deal with copyright issues on a daily

basis.  Yet because of the application of the law in a broad

variety of sectors, individuals with no legal backgrounds
must 
learn about copyright law to protect their own works,
negotiate 
permissions for others to use their content, interpret
licenses 
for the use of online content, work within a regime governed
by 
copyright law, and generally manage a variety of copyright 
issues.  Visual artists, writers, photographers and
filmmakers 
are all in professions where their income is based on
copyright 
law.  Educators, librarians, archivists and other
information 
professionals are involved in daily activities which must be

undertaken within the confines of copyright law.  With the 
Internet, often all of these non-lawyers must understand 
international copyright treaties and foreign copyright laws
as 
well as the copyright laws in their own countries - at least
on a 
practical level.

*Interpreting Fair Use/Dealing*

In fact, certain provisions in copyright statutes like the
U.S. 
fair use, or fair dealing, are intended for individuals to 
interpret.  Therefore, if an artist wants to create an
artistic 
work incorporating works of others, that artist must
determine 
whether her use is fair use/dealing as if a judge in a court
were 
deciding that same issue based on those particular
circumstances. 
The same is true for a librarian or educator photocopying
print 
material for use for her patrons or colleagues, or trying to

explain to someone why free content obtained on the Internet
is 
not necessarily free to forward (as opposed to forwarding a
link 
to access that same content).

*Non-Lawyers Interpreting the Law*

Of course, some individuals may be able to benefit from
in-house 
legal advice.  Authors of books may sometimes rely upon the

advice of their publishers' attorneys.  However, many author

agreements put the burden on the individual author to ensure
that 
an author's work does not infringe upon the rights of others
and 
that all proper copyright permissions have been obtained. 
Those 
who work in universities or larger organizations may have
access 
to their in-house attorneys for advice on copyright issues. 
But 
even with such access, many individuals complain that the
advice 
or answers take too long to obtain and that they must
analyze the 
copyright issues themselves in order to get on with their
work.

There are many librarians and content owners who continually
are 
negotiating permissions and licenses to copyright-protected
works 
and who have much more practical experience than any
attorney. 
These are often our colleagues with whom we can gain much 
insight.

*Copyright Manager*

The reality in copyright-based industries is that
individuals 
must understand copyright law, contract law, litigation
issues, 
risk management and be effective negotiators.  Many
enterprises 
now have positions occupied by non-lawyers that relate to 
copyright.  Often, these positions are filled by information

professionals.  For instance, a Copyright Officer may be 
responsible for copyright management issues.  A Licensing
Officer 
may be responsible for negotiating digital licenses, and 
explaining the legal uses of digital content within their 
enterprise.  Non-lawyers who are put in a "copyright
management" 
position should take some comfort from the recognition that
they 
are not alone.

####