Below are the answers I received to my original query, which is copied below the answers. Thanks to all for responding.
Anne Jaron Nathan Liebman Memorial Library Hebrew Academy of Nassau County Uniondale, NY [EMAIL PROTECTED] RESPONSE: Pages of the Talmud are scanned and on the web for printing and downloading. If they want individual pages send them to one of those sites. Check these sites: http://www.torahnet.org/ http://www.geocities.com/liorahchanah/talmud.html The other question is why are the students not buying their own copies of the mesekhta they are learning? RESPONSE: The question may be the reverse: Is it any less illegal to make multiple copies of reference books? If they are still under copyright, you are in clear violation--certainly in the case of photocoping books (Columbia University lost a multi-million dollar lawsuit doing this). There may not have been quite as much litigation with digital formats, but I wouldn't want to be the test case! FOLLOW-UP TO THAT RESPONSE: You did say materials NOT under copyright. In terms of US law, if it's not under copyright there's no problem. As I alluded in my previous message, the new formats would be, generally, less of a problem, since the case law is much less extensive. RESPONSE: Might it be reasonable to acquire CDs of mishnah & gemara? I think there's a ton of Judaica on CD-ROM and printing out a paper copy from one of these might be reasonable--especially if it's for scholarly use. RESPONSE: Is it any less illegal to make multiple copies of reference books? If they are still under copyright, you are in clear violation-- === I never understood this. So it IS in violation of copyright to photocopy an encyclopedia page in the library? Aren't libraries in violation every day, then? Why do they even provide copy machines? RESPONSE: This does not appear to meet the "fair use" standard of copyright no matter what format you are using since you are repeatedly copying the same texts for the same "class". The rule (as a non-lawyer understands it) is one set of emergency copies for one class, one time, but need to get clearance for any future copying for class use i e. next year's class. How about contacting the publisher of the texts and asking for permission to copy for a specific fee? It would certainly be setting a better example for the students than scheduled intellectual property stealing. RESPONSE: I'd bet you're right--particularly if you're talking about sections rather than complete works. Good luck with it, and remember, the kids are likely to be much more computer-savy than the rebbeim. Their reaction may be partially from general discomfort with a technology they're not comfortable with. We have had a policy of making photocopies of reference books, including mishnah and gemara, for students at no cost to them. Our photocopy bills have been outrageous this last year. I am thinking of using a high-quality scanner to cut costs and to make the work (in titles not bound by copyright) accessible to students who would then borrow the disk (either CD or floppy) and return it. It would also save wear and tear on the volumes to scan them rather than photocopy. I have floated this idea to one of our rebbeim who is very technology savvy. He questions whether or not it is legal under both Jewish law and secular law to use the technology to do essentially the same thing we did with photocopying. For some reason, the prevailing thought here is that using the technology makes it less acceptable to copy for what I would consider fair use. Is there any legal basis to the belief that scanning to disk for loan is less legal than photocopying for fair use? Is there any basis in Jewish law for not scanning pages of gemara and mishnah to disk? We are not thinking of reproducing the material for profit but rather for research purposes in the writing of student papers. Any approaches to any of these issues will be greatly appreciated. Anne Jaron Library Director Hebrew Academy of Nassau County 215 Oak Street Uniondale, NY 11553 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ========================================================================== HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
