Professors are no longer allowed to make large amounts of course material available on E-Reserve without permission from the copyright holders.,”

• Marquette established new E-Reserve copyright guidelines this semester
• Professors are no longer allowed to post large amounts of course material on E-Reserve without permission from copyright holders
• Digital copyright guidelines should essentially be the same as print guidelines
• E-Reserve will be used less frequently this semester

Faculty and students alike now need to be aware of copyright law when using Electronic Reserve through the library's Web site. The administration established new Electronic Reserve copyright guidelines this semester after realizing that revision was necessary.

According to the new guidelines, professors are no longer allowed to make large amounts of course material available on E-Reserve, an electronic version of photocopied materials students used access on the library's Web site. But it can be difficult to establish a line between fair use and what goes beyond fair use, according to Allan Adler, vice president for legal and governmental affairs of the Association of American Publishers.

The guidelines define fair use as a zone of protection for copying or disseminating copyrighted materials without obtaining permission under certain circumstances, such as the context of teaching, research and scholarship.

Adler said publishers became concerned with universities using material in a way that did not fit the fair use model. He said this is because, with electronic course packs, students do not need to purchase any materials for some classes.

"Fair use is supposed to be situational, circumstantial," Adler said. He said problems arise when excessive use becomes routine and systematic, and turns into something that professors rely on every semester.

When the AAP began discussing concerns with different universities, Adler said the goal was to make sure people understood that copyright law is the same for both print and digital forms. He said faculty may have been confused about the issue and could have fallen victim to different "copyright myths" about fair use.

Adler said the two main problems occur when an institution's written policies are not consistent with fair use and when the amount of material being used could not be considered fair use.

Rather than establishing common guidelines for all universities to follow, Adler said guidelines should be established school-by-school, on an individual institution basis.

Adler said the AAP publicly announced agreements with four schools, but he said more are being questioned. Last week, universities including Marquette, Hofstra and Syracuse officially reached an agreement with the AAP on new digital copyright guidelines, according to an AAP press release.

When universities do not cooperate, publishers commonly threaten to sue, but Adler said Marquette understood what the AAP wanted it to do and discussions ran smoothly. He said the AAP made an agreement with the university last semester and then gave the administration time to develop specific new guidelines.

The administration was already in the process of developing new E-Reserve guidelines when the AAP contacted the university to discuss concerns, according to Janice Simmons-Welburn, dean of University Libraries. The university shared the guidelines with the AAP, who then recommended a minor change, Simmons-Welburn said in an e-mail.

She said the guidelines were developed based on best practices at other institutions and are now available on the Marquette Web site.

The new guidelines include rules for both faculty and students, which could contribute to lessened use of E-Reserve by professors and students.

James Scotton, associate professor in the College of Communication, said he used to put a lot of material on E-Reserve for some courses. But this semester, he said, he posted nothing on E-Reserve.

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