Obeying the Law

One of the challenges I have to overcome is becoming knowledgeable about the current provisions of copyright law and fair use and how any given approach I adopt conforms to such restrictions. Researching this issue reveals that there is copyright, especially regarding digital products such as music files, is a dynamic and hotly contested area. Currently, for example, the Music Library Association (MLA), Association of Recorded Sound Recordings (ARSC), as well as the American Library Association are all pressing for revisions to US Code governing how digital intellectual property is handled, especially with regard to libraries and archives.

Several resources have helped guide me in this part of my project. Some notable reference works include:

• Copyright Law for Librarians and Educators: Creative Strategies and Practical Solutions (2nd ed.), by Kenneth D. Crews, published by ALA (2006)
• Does Your Project Have a Copyright Problem: A Decision-Making Guide for Librarians, by Mary Brandt Jensen, published by McFarland in 1996. Because Jensen's book appears to be one of several standards for copyright problems, and because it is slightly dated given the pace of Internet and digital world change, I wrote the author on January 29, 2009 to see whether she might have suggestions for where a researcher might find updates.
• Intellectual Property and Information Wealth: Issues and Practices in the Digital Age, edited by Peter K. Yu. This work is the fourth in a series of works under "International Intellectual Property Law and Policy," published by Praeger (2007).
• The Center for Intellectual Property Handbook, edited by Kimberly Bonner and published by the Center for Intellectual Property at the University of Maryland (2006).
  

Additionally, there is considerable helpful material available on the Web. Particularly helpful, for example, in part because it is locally generated and thus offers the possibility of direct access of the information developers, is a website available through the University of Texas at Austin:

• Copyright Crash Course, available at http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/ccmcguid.htm. The link directs the viewer to "Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines," and the site provides easy-to-navigate links to other resources and reference materials, and even allows UT employees the opportunity to ask specific questions of a lawyer.

Other sites also are useful in resolving thorny copyright issues. For example:

• The Music Library Association offers a rich site with relevant material at http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/copyright/Resources/ReportsAndStudies. As a key stakeholder in ongoing discussions about proposed revisions to Section 108 of the USC, one should consider their respective interests. They also provide considerable discussion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and other pending legislation. MLA's coverage is available at http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/copyright/Resources/OnlineResources
  

Another critical resource is the...

• ARSC's material on copyright and fair use, available at http://www.arsc-audio.org/copyright-committee.html.
  

There is more, needless to say, but for now, this at least gives a flavor of some footbridges one must cross before committing music to hard drive, and certainly, before making it accessible to the public, using any kind of connecting software or platform.