Librarians, repeat after me “one time use, one time use” More on fair use from Eli. [copyfight]
Category: access
the chilling effect of librarians
One of the interesting side effects of bad policy like the USA PATRIOT Act and counterintuitive copyright laws, just to name a few, is that people have a tendency to be self-policing in the absence of any real hard facts on how the laws are implemented, “fair use” laws in particular. Oftentimes people, in the absence of solid legal counsel, will be over-cautionary just to avoid being on the receiving end of a lawsuit. Librarians need to make sure that they are not being cowed by nebulous copyright boogeymen and instead advocating for fair use rights for their collections and for their patrons. That’s what access is all about. So says the MLA, the other MLA, AALL and many more.
Section 504(c)(2) of the Copyright Act provides special protection to nonprofit libraries, educational institutions and their employees. When we act in good faith, reasonably believing that our actions are fair use, in the unlikely event we are actually sued over a use, we will not have to pay statutory damages even if a court finds that we were wrong. This demonstrates Congressional acknowledgement of the importance of fair use and the importance of our using it!
access should be on your MIND before the building project, not after
Seattle Public’s new building has some serious accessibility flaws, say disabled users. While some of these concerns are stylistic, some are quite serious and should have been thought about before the design was finalized. People with disabilities were invited to give their input about the design, but felt that it was ignored. SPL says it is willing to make changes. Similarly today ALA discussed making the ALA web site more friendly to the visually disabled stating [on the Council list] “[T]he Web Advisory Committee and ASCLA are currently working with ITTS on a priority list for implementing accessibility on an application by application basis.” Wouldn’t it have been nicer — and cheaper — if they had made accesibility a priority before they built the site?
accessibility links
Library Web Chic collates some links about accessible web sites
The Information Commons: A public Policy Report
Past ALA President Nancy Kranich has authored a document for the Free Expression Policy Project about the information commons movement. Well worth reading, though I’m sure the word “sex” in the URL will get it banned at any library using filtering software.
” the public’s right to know is to be protected in today’s world, citizens must have optimal opportunities to acquire and exchange information. The stakes are high, for as the Supreme Court noted years ago, American democracy requires ‘the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources.'” [sethf]