Copyright Essentials for Librarians and Educators Free

Copyright has long since moved from being a subject that most librarians felt they could ignore to being central to the services which must be offered in the modern technological world. The law on copyright is complex and national in character, making it difficult to develop a global approach to information supply. Kenneth Crews has produced a guide to US law that is clearly written and easy‐to‐use. It is intended for “busy and sophisticated educators and information professionals” This means that it does not deal with the more arcane or tortuous interpretations of what the law might or might not mean. Rather it focuses on real issues and gives help in deciding what is or is not legal and how to deal with the different situations facing educators and librarian when the needs of uses do not match what the law allows. The author examines the nature of copyright, how long it lasts, authorship and ownership and then concentrates on what users and librarians may legitimately do with copyright material. As the law always lags behind technical developments, there is a chapter devoted to how the law will cope in the future. There is a useful and clear summary of US law and some notes on further reading and helpful Websites. Kenneth Crews has an international reputation as a teacher of copyright and his online course for library staff attracted several hundred participants. Its clear and simple structure makes it a good model for this type of guide. However, users must remember that it sets out to interpret US law and any attempt to map Crews’ solutions to problems onto services in other countries is bound to cause far more problems than not using the book at all. Many of the questions are universal: the solutions must be national. Essential for US information professionals, it still provides a useful insight into why there are often misunderstandings between US and other colleagues about what can and cannot be supplied and which procedures have to be followed.