Recently Asked Questions (RAQs)

A teacher would like to reprint a student workbook we can no longer find in print. We tried to get permission from the company that bought the publisher out, but they said they couldn’t help. At this point, can we prove that we have made a good faith effort to receive permission?

Patrons have suggested we provide photocopies of the daily crossword puzzles out of the newspaper because of other patrons doing the puzzle out of the library's current newspaper, thus ruining it for everyone else. We are told that some libraries provide this service, but we are concerned about the legality. Can you please advise us?

A law practice in is litigating a case.  They have contacted us asking for all relevant materials.

We have provided considerable materials from our records and archives, however, we have stopped short of providing a full digital copy of a book that might still be under copyright (based on publication date).

If they sent a representative to our archives, we would allow them access to the book.  They would be able to read it and even make their own copies of relevant sections.  I believe this is covered under the "fair use" provisions of the copyright law(?).

However, this is not the case, they want us to send them a full digital copy version of the book and I don't believe this is permissible under "fair use" or any other clause.  What is your understanding?

We’ve recently had some questions regarding the ability to provide access to dissertations, theses, and other cataloged graduate work.  How does the law govern these questions?

I encountered a situation in which a patron wanted to share an article that I sent to [a not-for-profit organization’s] educational portal. As it happened, she had a very specific intended audience…which I thought fell within the "Fair Use" doctrine as, in addition to the information being educational, it was to be shared with [only] a small group.

However, it made me wonder how to approach a situation in which intellectual property was to be shared on such an electronic educational forum for the entire [not-for-profit] staff to sign off on having read. Would sharing with all [not-for-profit] staff for educational purposes be acceptable?