One of the enhancements to the discussion concerning copyright is that there are at least two bodies of law here. When I'm not making lace, or pretending to be human, I am a lawyer/barrister. So I know that merely reading the statute doesn't tell it all, and sometimes they hide stuff in strange places. A quick perusal of laws indicates that British law is a lot more paranoid than US, (a totally objective assessment, the fact that I'm American of course has nothing to do with it) I read somewhere that it appears to be illegal to rip your own CD's on the computer so that you can play it on your ipod in Britain. Anyhow, 17 U.S.C. ss 108 says, in part: § 108. Limitations on exclusive rights: Reproduction by libraries and archives
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this title and notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement of copyright for a library or archives, or any of its employees acting within the scope of their employment, to reproduce no more than one copy or phonorecord of a work, except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), or to distribute such copy or phonorecord, under the conditions specified by this section, if — (1) the reproduction or distribution is made without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage; (2) the collections of the library or archives are (i) open to the public, or (ii) available not only to researchers affiliated with the library or archives or with the institution of which it is a part, but also to other persons doing research in a specialized field; and (3) the reproduction or distribution of the work includes a notice of copyright that appears on the copy or phonorecord that is reproduced under the provisions of this section, or includes a legend stating that the work may be protected by copyright if no such notice can be found on the copy or phonorecord that is reproduced under the provisions of this section. (d) The rights of reproduction and distribution under this section apply to a copy, made from the collection of a library or archives where the user makes his or her request or from that of another library or archives, of no more than one article or other contribution to a copyrighted collection or periodical issue, or to a copy or phonorecord of a small part of any other copyrighted work, if — (1) the copy or phonorecord becomes the property of the user, and the library or archives has had no notice that the copy or phonorecord would be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research; and (2) the library or archives displays prominently, at the place where orders are accepted, and includes on its order form, a warning of copyright in accordance with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation. (e) The rights of reproduction and distribution under this section apply to the entire work, or to a substantial part of it, made from the collection of a library or archives where the user makes his or her request or from that of another library or archives, if the library or archives has first determined, on the basis of a reasonable investigation, that a copy or phonorecord of the copyrighted work cannot be obtained at a fair price, if — (1) the copy or phonorecord becomes the property of the user, and the library or archives has had no notice that the copy or phonorecord would be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research; and (2) the library or archives displays prominently, at the place where orders are accepted, and includes on its order form, a warning of copyright in accordance with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation. (f) Nothing in this section — (1) shall be construed to impose liability for copyright infringement upon a library or archives or its employees for the unsupervised use of reproducing equipment located on its premises: Provided, That such equipment displays a notice that the making of a copy may be subject to the copyright law; (2) excuses a person who uses such reproducing equipment or who requests a copy or phonorecord under subsection (d) from liability for copyright infringement for any such act, or for any later use of such copy or phonorecord, if it exceeds fair use as provided by section 107; (3) shall be construed to limit the reproduction and distribution by lending of a limited number of copies and excerpts by a library or archives of an audiovisual news program, subject to clauses (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a); or (4) in any way affects the right of fair use as provided by section 107, or any contractual obligations assumed at any time by the library or archives when it obtained a copy or phonorecord of a work in its collections. (h)(1) For purposes of this section, during the last 20 years of any term of copyright of a published work, a library or archives, including a nonprofit educational institution that functions as such, may reproduce, distribute, display, or perform in facsimile or digital form a copy or phonorecord of such work, or portions thereof, for purposes of preservation, scholarship, or research, if such library or archives has first determined, on the basis of a reasonable investigation, that none of the conditions set forth in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (2) apply. (2) No reproduction, distribution, display, or performance is authorized under this subsection if — (A) the work is subject to normal commercial exploitation; (B) a copy or phonorecord of the work can be obtained at a reasonable price; or * * * [I have deleted sections of this act, they don't like large emails, but I got this from: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101 where you will find other sections of that chapter, and can also access the other chapters of the US Copyright Act. So if nothing else, if a library, which is not defined in the act, and therefore is given its normal definition, which is public, private, anything, does not know that its book can be purchased for a reasonable fee, copying of the work for private study, scholarship, or research is permitted. I am also aware of licensing agreements so that copyrighted material can be used without buying a copy if you pay the licensing fee. But that would be for items where the copy is available at a reasonable fee. Faced with the above, I would suggest that most of what lacemakers do is for private study, scholarship or research, as most of us are studying the making of lace. How many members of arachne are in the business of making lace for sale anyway? Lyn of Pennsylvania, US, where it is a glorious Memorial Day weekend. The possible rain never appeared. -----Original Message----- >From: [email protected] >Sent: May 30, 2010 3:12 AM >To: [email protected], [email protected] >Subject: Re: [lace] Pricking material/libraries > >---- [email protected] wrote: >Is it legal to read a book borrowed from a library in England? After all, you >haven't paid for it. If not, why do we have libraries? I do not think that >the copying of a pattern from a library book for >personal use would be considered illegal in the US.---- > >In the US, public libraries pay a lot more for magazine/journal subscriptions >because they will be used by more than 1 person (like a personal >subscription). Public libraries have "rules" they follow, and memberships and >fees to make their materials available to the public. This is how they can >allow people to read their books and, therefore, I think it is also legal to >copy (for personal use) from public library materials. > >However, organization libraries do not follow public library "rules", so I >believe their materials are not actually legally available for members' >copying. Many organizations such as lace guilds maintain a library because so >few people know (or care) about copyright restrictions. The members pool >their money and use it to buy books for all to use, but that is probably not >legal. > >English Lace Society, like many other "private" (restricted-access) libraries, >avoid organization liability by publishing the restriction--if someone goes >ahead and violates the organization's policy, that's the person's liability. > >Robin P. >Los Angeles, California, USA >[email protected] > > >Devon > >- >To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: >unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to >[email protected] > >- >To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: >unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to >[email protected] - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
