February 22, 2012

Copyright and Fair Use

What Patrons Teach Us—and Publishers Should Learn

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A new report from LJ indicates that it is vital for libraries to connect with digital patrons, especially ebook readers, and satisfying their expectations has a meaningful upside for both the library users and the publishing community.

The report, “Mobile Devices, Mobile Content, and Library Apps,” a part of LJ’s ongoing Patron Profiles series, points out that even though digital users—defined as a patron who uses a smartphone, ereader, or tablet—remain a minority, they are, nonetheless, more active than the general patron not only in digital services but also “in virtually every metric of library activity.” As such, they could guide librarians in understanding the intersection of their print holdings and their growing digital collections.

ALA Midwinter 2012: Head of RLUK Calls Research Works Act ‘Audacious in the Extreme’

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David Prosser, the executive director of Research Libraries UK (RLUK), says the Research Works Act introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in December is “frankly ridiculous” and an attack on open access.

UPDATED: ALA Midwinter 2012: Fair Use a Good Argument Even in an Age of Mass Digitization

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Librarians frequently do not apply their fair use rights under the Copyright Act in a robust manner when engaged in digitization projects, and they focus, instead, on risk aversion, to the detriment of scholarship and their patrons.

Weathering the IP Storms | Peer to Peer Review

Barbara Fister thinks libraries are designed to withstand heavy weather.

Supreme Court Upholds Law Restoring Copyright to Some Public-Domain Works

In a 6-2 ruling handed down yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively asserted that works that fall into the public domain may be pulled back under copyright protection by an act of Congress.

ALA Midwinter 2012: Gluejar to Make Soft Launch of Website at ALA Midwinter

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The innovative project is an attempt to come up with a working business model that would create widespread, unencumbered access to ebooks, and bridge the differences between rights holders and readers (including library patrons).

Supreme Court Asked to Review Significant First Sale Ruling

The August decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could seriously affect the ability of libraries to lend foreign-made works if left intact.

Copyright Office Supports Federalization of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings

In a report issued Wednesday, the U.S. Copyright Office recommended that sound recordings made before February 15, 1972 be brought under federal jurisdiction. “We believe that bringing pre-1972 sound recordings into the federal copyright system serves the interests of consistency and certainty, and will assist libraries and archives in carrying out their missions while also [...]

National Library of Sweden: “No Deal with OCLC” on WorldCat Participation [UPDATED]

The National Library of Sweden ended five years of negotiations with OCLC without an agreement regarding participation in WorldCat, citing issues surrounding OCLC record use policy, according to a press release posted today on the National Library’s website.

Are You Kidding? | Editorial

AUTHORS AND LIBRARIANS USED TO GET ALONG— and many still do. Every author I’ve heard speaking to a crowd of librarians tells fond stories about the childhood librarian who saved them and the worlds of possibility the local library opened up to them. They laud librarians for being the first to take up their book and for giving it both a push to library users and a home long past its bookstore shelf life. They organize to raise money for libraries, like Karin Slaughter and others.