Copyright Law for Librarians and Educators

Starred review from May 1, 2012

Crews (Copyright Advisory Office, Columbia Univ.) presents an excellent revised edition of his Copyright Essentials for Librarians and Educators. In five parts he covers all the principles and functions of the current law. Sections include the reach of copyright, rights of ownership, fair use, focus on education and libraries, and special features. First Crews covers how to determine whether material is under copyright or in the public domain, and how to find out who owns the copyright. Next, he details the four factors of fair use and instructs the reader on how to apply those in determining if material may be used in instructional settings and to what length. He covers extensively the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act and distance education, as well as section 108 of the Copyright Law, which gives special consideration for preservation, private study, and interlibrary loan. He also covers specific copyright issues relating to music. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), passed in 1998, was a major piece of legislation affecting copyright, but, until recently, it was often ignored. Recent court cases relating to the DMCA are detailed here. Crews includes citations to current legislation throughout, along with his extensive bibliography. Appendixes include selected parts of the copyright law, a model letter for permission requests, and checklists for fair use, and relating to the TEACH act. VERDICT Highly recommended as required reading for faculty and librarians, and library school students.--Marie Bruni, Huntington Memorial Lib., Oneonta, NY

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