Issues concerning libraries and the law - with latitude to discuss any other interesting issues Note: Not legal advice - just a dangerous mix of thoughts and information. Brought to you by Mary Minow, J.D., A.M.L.S. [California, U.S.] and Peter Hirtle, M.A., M.L.S. Follow us on twitter @librarylaw or http://twitter.com/librarylaw

In the Atheneum - fly on your purple dragon to reach the high shelves in fantasy library

[ 25 Aug 2010, 7:23 pm ]

Nicely done! Artwork by Mira Singer.   Fabulous.

In the Athenaeum by ~jesterbells on deviantART

Libraries and ebooks (legal issues) - query

[ 24 Aug 2010, 5:58 pm ]

I'm preparing a talk on the legal issues concerning libraries and ebooks.  If any readers can help me find any modified licenses that libraries have negotiated with ebook device sellers or ebook sellers, please let me know.  And if you have any specific legal questions, send them to me so that I can use them to help me prepare my talk. THANKS.

Final regulations on disability access to libraries and other places issued

[ 13 Aug 2010, 9:18 pm ]

The Department of Justice issued final regulations on disability access requirements for physical spaces in public institutions (Title II) and private institutions (Title III) http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/ADAregs2010.htm

Cutting edge on copyright - domestic and international

[ 3 Aug 2010, 2:58 pm ]

Two interviews of interest to librarians on copyright. The first is an insider's look at WIPO from a library advocate's point of view, by Janice Pilch, University of Illinois.  The second is on the new DMCA exemptions issued by the Librarian of Congress, and is by Abigail De Kosnik, Gary Handman and Mark Kaiser, University of California, Berkeley.

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

[ 3 Aug 2010, 2:24 am ]

Justia is featuring the OCLC v Skyriver case. You can get the court doc**ents and subscribe via RSS feed for updates. http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/3:2010cv03305/230152/

Urban copyright legends

[ 27 Jul 2010, 10:51 pm ]

Short and to the point, a new article by Brandon Butler in the ARL/CNI/SPARC's Research Library Issues  http://arl.tizrapublisher.com/rli270/17 explodes "Urban Copyright Legends."  

Is Fair Use always a high burden for the education community to defend?  If a license is available, does that automatically negate Fair Use?  If your university is relying on the Teach Act, does that trump Fair Use?  (I'm horrified, by the way, that some think it does). 

I like it that this article is readable, yet cites case law and other authoritative sources. That's always a trick --  to make copyright reading understandable yet not oversimplified beyond recognition.

Butler does it exceedingly well. In a sense, he creates a starter SNOPES for copyright legends that he says he sometimes wishes for.

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This post is cross-posted from the Fairly Used blog at Stanford