Copyright, fair use and the for-profit sector.
Information Outlook › Vol. 6 Nbr. 5, May 2002
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Copyright, fair use and the for-profit sector.
INTERPRETING COPYRIGHT LAW IN LIBRARIES IS NOT AN EASY TASK. Applying the fair use provision (section 107) and the library exemption (section 108) of the Copyright Act to the for-profit sector is particularly difficult. In determining whether a particular activity is permitted as a fair use under the section 108 exemption, one must distinguish between the different types of for-profit institutions. On one hand are copyshops, such as Kinkos, which generate income from making copies. Similar to copyshops are for-profit companies -- such as TDI Library Services and Instant Information Systems -- whose business is to provide document delivery services for a fee. Then there are companies, such as the Texaco corporation or law firms, whose business is not to make copies, but who instead reproduce copyrighted works only incidentally.
Because they are not libraries, copyshops and fee-based document delivery companies do not qualify for the section 108 library exemption. And because they are in the business of making and distributing copies, it is doubtful that copying they do for their customers could qualify as a fair use. Copyshops and document delivery suppliers, however, are different from companies that do not directly profit from making copies for their customers. A review of selected litigation involving publishers and the for-prof...See the full content of this document
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