ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


2 4 /C&RL News

ALA 
S ta te m e n t

D r a ft

 
Fair use in th e electronic 
a g e : Serv in g  th e public 
in terest

Draft statement: Send y o u r 
comments to ALA in Washington

T
he primary objective o f copyright is not to 
reward the labor o f authors, but ‘[t]o pro­

mote the Progress o f Science and useful Arts.’ 
To this end, copyright assures authors the right 
to their original expression, but encourages oth­
ers to build freely upon the ideas and informa­
tion conveyed by a work. . . . This result is 
neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means 
by which copyright advances the progress 
o f s c ie n c e  and a rt.”—J u s t i c e  S a n d r a  D a y
O ’C on n or.1

 

The genius of United States copyright law is 
that, in conformance with its constitutional foun­
dation, it balances the intellectual property in­
terests o f authors, publishers, and copyright 
owners with society’s need for the free ex­
change o f ideas. Taken together, fair use and 
other public rights to utilize copyrighted works, 
as confirmed in the Copyright Act o f 1976, con­
stitute indispensable legal doctrines for promot­
ing the dissemination o f knowledge, while en­
suring authors, pu blishers, and copyright 
owners appropriate protection o f their creative 
works and economic investments.

The fair use provision of the Copyright Act 
allows reproduction and other uses of copy­
righted works under certain conditions for pur­

poses such as criti­
c ism , c o m m e n t, 
n e w s re p o r tin g , 
teaching (including 
multiple cop ies for 
c la s s r o o m  u s e ), 
sch olarsh ip , or re­
s e a rch . A d d itional 
provisions o f the law 
allow  uses sp e cifi­
cally perm itted  by 
Congress to further 
educational and li­
brary activities. The 
p r e s e r v a tio n  and 
continuation o f these 
balanced rights in an 
electro n ic environ­
ment as well as in tra­
ditional formats are 
essential to the free 
flow of information 
(F air use cont. on  p a g e  
46)

Copyright and fair use: Maintaining the balan ce
The legal fram ew ork for intellectual property is based on a pro-vision in 
the U .S . Constitution that empowers Congress to grant limited rights to 
authors and creators in their intellectual w orks for the purpose of p ro­
moting science and the useful arts. The Copyright A ct of 1976 w as in­
tended to be technologically neutral, and to strike the essential balance 
grounded in the Constitution between rew arding creators and promoting 
growth of new knowledge built upon the w ork of others. O ne of the roles 
of the federal government is to foster maximum cre ativity by maintaining 
this equilibrium .

The lib ra ry community, which has long provided opportunities for the 
public to benefit from the lending and use of a w ide variety of copy­
righted and public domain m aterials, is esp ecially concerned that this 
balance among legitim ate interests be m aintained in the digital environ­
ment as well as with traditional formats.

To that end, representatives of the A m erican A ssociation of Law Li­
b ra ria n s, Am erican Lib rary A sso ciatio n , A ssociation of Academ ic Health 
Sciences Lib rary Directors, Association of Research Lib raries, M edical 
L ib ra ry  A sso cia tio n , S p e cial L ib ra rie s A sso ciatio n  drafted the state­
ment, "F a ir Use in the Electronic A ge: Serving the Public Interest." The 
document is still a draft in progress, and the o rg an izatio n s listed w e l­
com e c o m m e n ts. S e n d  y o u r co m m en ts to C a r o l H e n d e rso n  at 
cch @ alaw ash .o rg.— C a ro l C. Henderson, executive director, A LA  W ash ­
ington O ffice

P repared by representatives o f  ALA, the Ameri c a n  Association o f  Law Librarians, the Association o f  A cadem ic 
Health Sciences Library Directors, th
the Special Libraries Association.

e Association o f  Research Libraries, the M edical Library Association, a n d  





2 6 /C&RL News