http://tags.library.upenn.edu/tag/academic_libraries+photocopyingeducation+fair_use PennTags Feed http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/project/33594 http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/project/33594 Within the academic arena librarians, professors, and researchers alike, are often unaware of the rights they have to use or reproduce many copyrighted sources. Throughout time, technological advances, starting with the photocopier, have been blamed for the confusion over fair use and other legal copyright practices within the academic setting. This is because Copyright Law, though seemingly technologically neutral, does not account for advances in technology that are made between modifications of the law, which cannot change as often as people would like. Another culprit seems to be publications that, in an attempt to elucidate fair use in an understandable language, often convey the rights of academic persons to educational resources by listing what they cannot do, instead of what they can. This kind of language and approach has led many to shy away from the use of certain resources that could very well influence the effectiveness of their work, for fear that they will be sued. With the vastly increasing number of ways a computer and other technologies can be used, now, more than ever, it is crucial that students and educators become aware of their rights to the intellectual property that is so readily available to them. Though some laws have been set in place to protect the rights of publishers, printers, and authors in this respect, many of these issues must still be understood through the application of fair use principles. For this reason, my essay focuses on issues of fair use in the academic setting and the ways academic experiences can be negatively affected my common misinterpretations of it. I intend to show how such confusion over issues of fair use is disruptive and detrimental to scholarly pursuits, and argue for the incorporation of fair use education for all members of an academic setting. http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/voyager/33595 http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/voyager/33595 <div class="mlacite">Crews, Kenneth D. . <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Copyright, fair use, and the challenge for universities : promoting the progress of higher education / Kenneth D. Crews. </span> 0226120554 (acid-free paper) series Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1993. <br /></div> <p>This text supports my thesis in many of the same ways that other of my texts do.&nbsp; However, my main interest in this text is what Crews argues is a "Trend toward Restrictions."&nbsp; This concept explains the way in which, because many universities cannot confidently interpret fair use guidelines, especially with reference to the availability of software for students, many of them have taken to revising software policies that do little more than completely restrict the making of copies and threaten liability.&nbsp; University software policies condemn "illegal copying" or "unauthorized copying" often with warnings that read soemthing like "Unauthorized copying of of commercial software is a form of theft."&nbsp; However, what these policies do not do is highlight the needs of the users, or explain what copying is legal or within fair use; and from this many academic community members go without crucial educational tools for fear of being sued.</p> <p>Crews argues that by not developing a clearer system of outlining policies, universities ultimately ignore the preservation of their users' rights, instead forfeiting them altogether.&nbsp; This notion supports my own argument as well, because it exemplifies the necessity of university educators (including librarians) to help researchers understand what they can do.&nbsp; Researchers have the right to fully access their university services to their fullest extent.&nbsp; It is the university's job then to make itself as accessible as possible.&nbsp; Educating students about fair use and copyright is a crucial part of this accessibility.</p>