The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has announced the release of the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries. The Code is described as a clear and easy-to-use statement of fair and reasonable approaches to fair use developed by and for librarians who support academic inquiry and higher education. It was developed in partnership with the Center for Social Media and the Washington College of Law at American University.
In dozens of interviews with experienced research and academic librarians, the researchers learned how copyright law comes into play as interviewees performed core library functions. Then, in a series of small group discussions held with library policymakers around the country, the research team developed a consensus approach to applying fair use.
The Code deals with such common questions in higher education as: when and how much copyrighted material can be digitised for student use; whether video should be treated the same way as print; how libraries' special collections can be made available online; and whether libraries can archive websites for the use of future students and scholars.
The Code identifies the relevance of fair use in eight recurrent situations for librarians - supporting teaching and learning with access to library materials via digital technologies; using selections from collection materials to publicize a library's activities, or to create physical and virtual exhibitions; digitising to preserve at-risk items; creating digital collections of archival and special collections materials; reproducing material for use by disabled students, faculty, staff, and other appropriate users; maintaining the integrity of works deposited in institutional repositories; creating databases to facilitate non-consumptive research uses (including search); and collecting material posted on the web and making it available. In the Code, librarians affirm that fair use is available in each of these contexts, providing helpful guidance about the scope of best practice in each.
The development of the Code is supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Search for more Public policies / MOUs
To access our daily STM news feed through your iPhone, iPad, or other smartphones, please visit www.myscoope.com for a mobile friendly reading experience.
