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Copyright Management Roles
for Librarians + Info Pros
Offered by Lesley Ellen Harris, Copyrightlaws.com + SLA Click University
Certificate in Copyright Management CCM 100
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Scenario 1
• Your colleague has distributed 30 copies
of an article for an in-house seminar you
are attending. You know that copyright
has not been cleared. Do you say
anything, or do you think …
• It may be fair use/dealing
• No one will find out
• Send license fee to copyright owner after the
fact
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Scenario 2
• Your boss has told you to email 50
articles found in databases licensed by
your organization to his brother on
sabbatical in Mexico. Do you …
• Refer your boss to the database licenses
• Do what your boss requests, hoping that he is
liable if there are any legal issues
• Move to Mexico and take the articles with you
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Scenario 3
• You work in a public library and have a
blog that discusses positive aspects of
social networking. You post daily before
you go to work.
• Who owns your blog?
• Who is liable if unauthorized content is posted
on your blog?
• Who owns copyright in the comments submitted
to the blog?
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Common Points
• Copyright law is not always straightforward
• Co-workers and bosses often do not
understand copyright and licenses
• Having copyright procedures in place can help
ensure copyright compliance
• Written Copyright Policies can answer
questions in advance and provide consistency
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Agenda
1. Why do we need to manage copyright?
2. How do we manage copyright?
3. Who is responsible for copyright
management?
4. What tools do we need to manage?
5. When do we begin?
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Why Do We Need to Manage
Copyright?
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1. Laws
• Every country has copyright laws
– EU Copyright Directives
• International copyright treaties
• Contractual obligations relating to
copyright-protected content
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2. Lawsuits
• 2003: Legg Mason was ordered to pay
almost $20 M for copying a newsletter
• 2007: Knowledge Networks paid $300,000
for distributing articles and research reports
to employees via e-mail newsletters
– They used articles from publishers such as
Reed Elsevier and the Associated Press,
without obtaining licenses or permissions
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3. Digital Changes
• Content is licensed, not purchased
• Information or content is accessed,
negotiated for, its use is subject to terms
and conditions, must interpret licenses,
must manage content
• Managing digital content is whose
responsibility?
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4. Widespread Copying
• Whether the photocopying machine, a
scanner or the Internet, technology allows
everyone to be a publisher and also
infringer of copyright materials
• Cost has decreased
• Speed and ease has greatly increased
• Instant distribution around the world
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5. Copyright Owners
• More aware of copyright laws protecting their
works
• More concerned about unauthorized uses of
their works
• More likely to enforce their rights
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6. $$$
• Interruption of work by being ordered to
stop using a work
• Lawyers’ fees, paying the copyright
owner (after-the-fact license, settlement,
in court), copyright owners’ attorney fees
(in a court case)
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7. Employee Confidence
• Setting a good internal example to
employees
• Copyright management, policies and
education provides security to
employees
• Easier to perform work
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8. Reputation
• Public appearance as an unethical
organization
• If your organization receives public
funding, copyright violations could be an
issue
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From Why to How …
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Eliminate Misinformation
☒ You can copy up to 10% of a work without obtaining
permission
☒ Only those works with © are protected by copyright
☒ Online content is in the public domain
☒ Images found through Google are free to use
☒ I obtained permission so I can use the image/document
wherever I want
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Understanding Copyright
Language
• Intellectual property (IP)
• Patents/TMs/Copyright
• Content
• Protected works
• License
• Treaty
• Contracts
• Permission
• Reproduction
• Infringement
Principles
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Intangible property
No protection in ideas
Gray areas
Balance
Liability for infringement
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1. Intangible Property
• Copyright is an area of IP
• Intellectual v. physical property
• Book — physical and intellectual/
intangible component
• Copyright protects the intangible part of
a work
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“As you know, you can’t copyright
an idea…”
Michael Douglas’ character in Fatal Attraction,
from the screenplay by James Dearden
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2. No Protection in Ideas
• Copyright law does not protect ideas,
facts, history or news
• Copyright protects the expression of ideas
• Anyone may use an idea without
obtaining permission
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3. Gray Areas, aka It Depends
• Copyright law is not black and white; many
interpretations (e.g., fair use/dealing)
•
•
•
•
•
Read Copyright Act
Court cases
Legislative history of Copyright Act
International treaties
Final answer: court of law
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“Like conventional wars, the copyright
war has been intensely polarizing. The
conflict has been protracted and
venomous. The middle ground seems to
have disappeared. Anyone who works or
writes in the copyright field is either
‘one of us’ or ’one of them.’”
Professor Jessica Litman
The Politics of Intellectual Property, Jessica Litman, Cardozo Arts
& Entertainment, Vol. 27, page 313 at 317.
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4. Balance
• Copyright author/owner v. user
• Balance shifts
• Identification with “one side”
• Copyright = understanding the “other side” too
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5. Liability
• Who is liable?
• Everyone who contributes to the copyright
infringement may be liable
• Includes your organization, employer as well as you
personally
• May even include your customers who use content
you send them
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Management is an Art
• Law to court cases to your particular facts
• Knowledge
• Experience
• “Copyright wisdom”
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What Is The Role of The NonLawyer in Managing Copyright?
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Poll
How many of you have in-house counsel
or outside copyright counsel for ongoing copyright information and advice?
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Non-Lawyers Managing Copyright
• In our information economy, librarians and
others are gatekeepers to information
• Necessitates the role of non-lawyers as
“copyright police,” gurus and enforcers
• Question: to embrace or avoid that role? Is
it optional?
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Librarian/Non-Lawyer or Lawyer?
• Negotiating a license for a digital periodical
• Preparing a draft copyright policy
• Teaching copyright basics
• Interpreting fair use/dealing
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What Would You Do?
• You are the Copyright Librarian. You
provide copyright information to a
researcher. The researcher ignores your
advice.
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Management Involves
Enterprise-Wide Efforts
• Support of senior management and employees at
all levels
• Copyright compliance is an enterprise-wide
project
• Self-education first
• Education of all employees, clients and possibly
the public
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Facets to Compliance
• Copyright law has many facets
– financial
– ethical
– legal
– managerial
– confidence level
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Copyright Management
• Dealing with day-to-day copyright issues
• Understanding copyright issues
• Mechanisms in place
–copyright resources
–copyright policy
• Organized approach
• Being proactive
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What are your goals in the
Certificate in Copyright
Management?
© Lesley Ellen Harris 2016. Email lesley@copyrightlaws.com for permission to reproduce these slides.
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