Libraries Are Champions for

Academic Freedom andBalanced Copyright

The Constitutional purpose ofcopyright and the mission ofhigher education are the same toldquopromote the Progress of Scienceand the useful Artsrdquo

This mission requires balancebetween the interests of copyrightholders and the interests ofscholars faculty and students

Research libraries and theirpartners on campus are championsof that balance

Commercial actors are increasingly claiming to have the interests ofthe academy at heart and offering licensing products and web-based

ldquoeducationrdquo that purport to assist scholars faculty and librarians inaddressing copyright issues The message is ldquoCopyright means

every use must be paid for For a fee we can provide easy access to asafe selection of licensed contentrdquo This unbalanced view is not

surprising commercial actors exist to maximize their profits and donot share the core mission of the academy

Three Academic Freedoms

i

The Freedom to Research using the widest possible variety of tools and sources from novels to scholarly journals to data sets free from unnecessary constraints

The Freedom to Teach and Learn without unreasonable limits on the use of third-party material as the subject of in-class and out-of-class study and discussion

The Freedom toPublish the results of academic researchincluding the ability toquote from andcomment upon existingworks in appropriateways

Freedom to Research is at Stake

UNBALANCED COPYRIGHT COULD THREATEN

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

BECAUSE IT WOULD

rsaquo hobble works with contractual restrictionsdigital locks expiring access and more

rsaquo make knowledge harder to find as manyworks quickly go out of print and becomecommercially unavailable

NEW BOOKS FROM AMAZON WAREHOUSE BY DECADE

400

300

200

100

0 1800 1850 1900 1950

1923 Copyright Begins

2000

rsaquo block preservation in more durable formatsof film sound recordings and books thatcould disappear

rsaquo perpetuate unsustainable publishing modelsthat place journal articles and other academicresources out of reach for some institutionsand the general public

rsaquo threaten the development of powerful newsearch tools and the development of researchtechniques based on text mining

BUT RESEARCHLIBRARIES HELP RESTORE

THE BALANCE

BECAUSE THEY

rsaquo insist on the broadestpossible rights for alllibrary users and thenpush back against effortsto place unreasonablelocks on vital resources

rsaquo collect and preserve works long beyondmost works commercial life ensuring thecompleteness and integrity of thescholarly record

rsaquo have legal privileges in addition to broadfair use rights to preserve items andensure that these works are continuouslyavailable

rsaquo are at the forefront of the movement foropen access including public access topublicly-funded research and openeducational resources

rsaquo create vital new tools and join with the fullcommunity to defend those tools in court

The chart shows availability of a random sample of new books available on Amazoncom as reported in Paul HealdldquoHow Copyright Keeps Works Disappearedrdquo available at httppapersssrncomsol3paperscfmabstract_id=2290181

Freedom to Teach amp Learn is at Stake

UNBALANCED COPYRIGHT COULD THREATEN

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

BECAUSE IT WOULD

rsaquo limit what texts images and videos can beused in new modes of online teaching(course sites distance education MOOCsand other cutting edge platforms)

rsaquo threaten valuable services such asstreaming video and electronic coursereserves the latter currently under fire incourt with a copyright infringementlawsuit filed against Georgia StateUniversity by three academic publishersand funded in part by the CopyrightClearance Center

rsaquo deter students and scholars from pursuinglearning projects that involvetransformative uses of existing works

BUT RESEARCHLIBRARIES HELP RESTORE

THE BALANCE

BECAUSE THEY

rsaquo Partner with campus allies to supportinnovations in teaching identify openeducational resources and promote fairuse and other user rights

rsaquo stand up for academic freedom in court and win with the overwhelming support

rsaquo support studentsrsquo interest in cutting-edgemethods of scholarship providingtechnological tools and advice on how toexercise fair use rights responsibly

of the academic community

Freedom to Publish is at Stake

UNBALANCED COPYRIGHTCOULD THREATEN

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

BECAUSE IT WOULD

rsaquo require authors always to obtainpermission to use copyrighted text andimages in academic publications whichcan place a very high burden onacademic authors when the copyrightholder is hard to find

rsaquo require a permission payment that istoo costly

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX WENT UP 89JOURNAL COST WENT UP 340 FROM 1986-2007

400

300

200

100

0

Serial Expenditures (+340) CPI (+89)

1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006

The chart shows that journal cost went up 340 from 1986 to 2007 while CPI went up 89 Full chart isavailable at httpwwwlibwashingtoneduscholpubfactseconomics

rsaquo allow the rights holder to withholdpermission for any reason or evenfor none

rsaquo impose legal and contractual limitations onthe circulation and re-use of scholarshipthat the author does not support

BUT RESEARCHLIBRARIES HELP RESTORE

THE BALANCE

BECAUSE THEY

rsaquo help academic authors seek permissionwhen necessary librarians know the bestways to locate authors publishers andother rights holders

rsaquo help academic authors find alternatives inthe public domain with open licenses orwith more reasonable rights holders

rsaquo understand fair use and other rights thatmay allow use without permission whenpermission isnrsquot possible

rsaquo have led the movement toward openformats open licensing and otherunencumbered publishing methods

rsaquo help scholars choose the platforms andlicenses that work for them

Ways To MaintainA Balanced CopyrightEcosystem

1 Make the library a full partner in research teachingand publishing Take advantage of the library andits copyright-savvy staff

2 Be wary of commercial entities offering to replace thelibraryrsquos services Whether itrsquos copyright ldquoeducationrdquoor ldquoon demandrdquo document delivery commercialactors are not acting with the core academic missionas a primary objective

Seek out copyright information from neutral sources3

4 Help improve copyright Libraries are on the front lines ofthe copyright debates in Washington DC in the US courtsand around the world Follow these issues and call yourrepresentatives in Congress when you see that copyright isbecoming unbalanced and academic freedom is at stake

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