Provides an overview of the legal nature of copyright, its history, and present status. Current issues of concern to information professionals are then discussed, including reproduction and distribution of copyrighted material, interlibrary loans, the "Five-Year Review" of the current law, technology, nonprint materials, and databases.…

Suggests ways for superintendents to assess instructional photocopying needs and costs and adopt workable, cost-effective procedures and guidelines. Evaluators of copy content need to consider teaching objectives, appropriateness, conceptual enrichment, alternative approaches, style, grammar, public relations effects, and possible copyright…

This paper presents an overview of copyright issues for research and teaching. The first section provides historical background from the origin of the concept of copyright in 1557 in Britain to the present. The second section looks at fair use, including parameters and guidelines for reproduction. The following sections discusses the Berne…

Considers issues regarding the migration of a system of literature into electronic formats. Highlights include integrity in an information distribution system; digest technology; tracings that permit detection of copied digital objects; verifying sources; digital signature technology and cryptography; electronic publishing; and intellectual…

Examines laws governing intellectual property that affect distance education. Topics addressed include copyright law, particularly the concept of fair use; traditional applications of copyright law in education, including photocopying and the Classroom Guidelines; and distance learning and copyright law, including works transmitted via…

Asks how a music teacher can supply enough sheet music to ensure resources for every student while meeting restrictions of slender budgets and copyright laws. Explores the concept of authorized duplication, similar to software licensing, as a solution. Provides sources of music with authorized duplication agreements. (DSK)

Discusses five-year review of the issue of library reproduction of copyrighted works mandated by Section 108(i) of Copyright Act of 1976. Highlights include preparation for Register's report (advisory committee, hearings, King Research report, librarian/copyright proprietor meetings); findings; and recommendations (voluntary agreements and…

This discussion of the 1976 Copyright Law highlights the librarian's responsibility, guidelines for interlibrary loan copying published by National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) and the American Library Association Interlibrary Loan Committee, and nonprint materials and copyright. Thirteen references and an…

Describes the establishment of a national clearinghouse granting off-air videotaping licenses to learning resource centers, libraries, and educational institutions. The Television Licensing Center provides the link between the broadcast of educational programing from commercial and public television and the legal, delayed use of that material in…

Places the "Journal of Documentary Reproduction", published by the American Library Association, in an historical context and defines its domain in terms of the characteristics of its contributors. Authorship characteristics include occupation, institutional affiliation, geographic distribution, and gender. (Author/LRW)

Addresses the impact of Canadian Copyright Bill C-60 on educators' and researchers' ability to reproduce materials for study. Explains that the Canadian Reprography Collective (CanCopy) was formed to provide easy legal public access to copyrighted material by issuing blanket licenses. Concludes that cooperation between creators, producers, and…

Special section on fair use and copyright contains three articles: "The Management of Intellectual Property" (Scott Bennett); "The Meaning of Fair Use" (Kenneth Frazier), including electronic infringement and examples of court cases; and "Document Delivery" (Laura N. Gassaway), including copies for primary users,…

The evolution and functions of Australia's Copyright Agency Limited are described. The agency is a copyright collecting organization which collectively administers the rights of authors and publishers whose works are copied in education, and enters into blanket agreements with educational authorities outside the existing statutory license. Some…

A six-month-old court ruling requires teachers to seek permission to reproduce every piece of work in photocopied college course anthologies. The ruling has delayed production of the anthologies, increased their cost, left publishers and professors scrambling to deal with copyright permissions, and prompted more use of textbook and library…

Discussion of the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem, the computer-code problem that affects computer programs or computer chips, focuses on the impact on teacher-librarians. Topics include automated library systems, access to online information services, library computers and software, and other electronic equipment such as photocopiers and fax machines.…