[Libs-Or] ALA applauds second circuit affirmation of fair use

[Diedre Conkling]

http://www.districtdispatch.org/2014/06/ala-applauds-second-circuit-affirmation-fair-use/

ALA applauds second circuit affirmation of fair use
Posted on June 10, 2014 by Carrie Russell

Today, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld (pdf)
<http://www.districtdispatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/AGvHathiTrust.pdf>
the ruling in *Authors Guild v. HathiTrust*, deciding that providing a full
text search database and providing access to works for people with print
disabilities is fair use. The court also ruled that the Authors Guild
lacked standing, and therefore could not assert infringement claims against
the HathiTrust. The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA)
<http://www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/>, of which the American Library
Association (ALA) is a member, filed an amicus brief (pdf)
<http://www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/bm~doc/lca-amicus-hathitrust-appeal-03june13.pdf>
in support of the HathiTrust.

ALA President Barbara Stripling released the following statement in
response to the ruling:

“The Second Circuit today affirmed more than a lower court decision—it
affirmed that the fair use of copyrighted material by libraries for the
public is essential to copyright law. ALA is pleased that the court
recognizes the tremendous value of libraries in securing the massive record
of human knowledge on behalf of the general public and in providing lawful
access to works for research, educational, and learning purposes, including
access for people with disabilities.

“The continued acknowledgement of the importance of fair use to enable
learning and support for the development of a well-informed citizenry makes
the U.S. copyright law unique and well-functioning.”

This decision affirms that libraries can engage in mass digitization to
improve the discovery of works and provide full access to those works to
students with print disabilities enrolled at the respective HathiTrust
institutions. The general public can search the database using keywords and
locate titles held in 80 member institutions. Full text access to the
underlying works is allowed only for students with print disabilities
enrolled at the University of Michigan and certified as disabled by a
qualified expert.

Students with print disabilities are blind or have a handicap that prevents
them from reading printed text. Because of the full conversion of the texts
to digital format that is accessible, these students can use adaptive
technologies, such as text-to-speech, to read.

ALA will continue its defense of fair use in the *HathiTrust* case, should
additional appeals be filed.



http://www.districtdispatch.org/2014/06/ala-applauds-second-circuit-affirmation-fair-use/



-- 
*Diedre Conkling*




*Lincoln County Library DistrictP.O. Box 2027Newport, OR 97365Phone & Fax:
541-265-3066Work email**: **diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org*
<diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org>
*Home email: **diedre08 at gmail.com* <diedre08 at gmail.com>

 “If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change
your attitude.”―Maya Angelou
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