Currently viewing the category: "Licensing"

Why boycott Elsevier?

On January 31, 2012 By

The snowballing petition on which scholars pledge to boycott Elsevier is gaining a good deal of attention.  There is an article in today’s Chronicle of Higher Education, and this more general article about the future of Elsevier’s business model from Forbes.  As of today the boycott pledge has over 2100 signatures.

As [...]

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When is “exclusive” really not?

On August 19, 2011 By

In our previous post we talked about the relatively easy fair use call involved in the Brownmark Films case decided by the district court in Wisconsin.  Before the court even got to that issue, however, it had to decide a procedural issue that has potential ramifications for scholarly publishing.  Who can grant an [...]

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Licenses, prices, fair use and GSU

On August 3, 2011 By

When the trial of the Georgia State copyright infringement lawsuit closed last month, the Judge asked both sides to file post-trial briefs, outlining their proposals for findings of fact and conclusions of law that they think the court should make.  They are extensive documents, representing the last chance each side has to make its arguments, [...]

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Contract preemption: an issue to watch

On February 8, 2011 By

Back in December I wrote about the lawsuit that has finally been filed against UCLA claiming that the policy of streaming digitized view for course-related viewing is copyright infringement.  Late in January UCLA responded with a motion asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state [...]

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Actions speak louder

On January 11, 2011 By

The recent news that the Canadian Recording Industry Association has reached a settlement agreement with artists is not, strictly speaking, about scholarly communications.  But it does give rise, I think, to several reflections about the way copyright works for all of us, including scholars.

The story, which is explained here and here, is [...]

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Is the sky falling on library lending?

On December 17, 2010 By

“The sky is falling,” Chicken Little cried.  I don’t want to emulate that panicky poultry too closely, but recent events have raised some concern in my mind over the continued viability of copyright’s “first sale” doctrine, upon which so much library practice depends.

First sale is the rule that once a lawful copy of a [...]

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A glimpse into our future?

On November 28, 2010 By

Access Copyright is the Canadian equivalent of the U.S Copyright Clearance Center.  Like the CCC, which is helping to finance litigation against Georgia State University designed to force US universities to pay more and higher licensing fees for course materials, Access Copyright is also on a quest for ever greater income.

I and others have [...]

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Let the user beware

On January 11, 2010 By

If the box that says “I Accept” (regarding a website’s terms of use)  really is the most dangerous place on the web, as I wrote several weeks ago, it is getting even riskier out there.  For a long time, a relatively safe rule-of-thumb has been that EULAs (end user license agreements) that forced you [...]

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The most dangerous place on the Web

On December 15, 2009 By

The most dangerous place on the Internet may well be inside that little button that says “I Agree.”  The opportunity to bind oneself to a contract almost unconsciously abounds on the Internet, and the immediacy of the Web encourages click-through agreements that are almost never read and, if they are, impossible to understand.

The Electronic [...]

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What are we paying for?

On November 27, 2009 By

As the lawsuit brought by three publishers against Georgia State University claiming copyright infringement in GSU’s e-reserves and course management systems wends its way toward what seems to be an increasingly likely trial, it has had an unexpected benefit for academic librarians who manage electronic reserves.

As many people already know, academic copyright expert Dr. [...]

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