COPYRIGHT, FAIR USE, AND THE TEACH ACT: OPINIONS AND PRACTICES OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANS

Problem: The law of copyright in the United States represents a balancing of creative and commercial protection for copyright holders against the freedom and needs of others to use copyrighted resources including academic libraries, faculty, and students. Although a significant body of literature exists that describes and analyzes the course and mechanics of copyright through its long and storied history, few researchers have gathered statistics relating to academic librarians’ opinions concerning the efficacy of present-day United States copyright laws including the TEACH Act, their understanding of them, and their everyday resource use within the confines of these laws in the area of provision of digital resources. The views and practices of academic librarians are valuable in determining whether the TEACH Act is accomplishing its intended purpose of extending copyright exceptions beyond the classroom to digitally based academic course materials. Methodology: Based in grounded theory, data collection emanated from two sources – an online survey to all American academic members of the Association of Research Libraries and a content analysis of the websites of twenty-five randomly selected American academic members of the Association of Research Libraries. Summary of findings: Survey results indicate that academic librarians are dissatisfied with current copyright law and the realities of resource licensing. Fifty-four percent of the institutions in which the libraries are situated appear to be using the TEACH Act. Compliance with the Act’s requirements could not be definitively ascertained. The content analysis of websites indicate that a conflicting higher percentage of institutions are using the TEACH Act than what was reported through the survey. These perceived usages, however, could be the result of negligent linking to online information outside of the library’s own institution. Conclusions: Academic institutions are utilizing the benefits of the TEACH Act. Suggestions for statutory revision are made based upon findings made in this study