Singing a Different Tune

Kids are downloading more and more music—but is it legal?

By Carrie Russell -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2005

I often see students in our library downloading music from the Internet onto CDs during their lunch breaks. Is it legal for them to do that? What guidance can you offer us?
—Suzanne Goodman, library media specialist, Park High School Library, Livingston, MT

It is impossible to determine whether students are engaged in an infringing activity without actually approaching them and finding out what they are downloading. As you know, there are several music sites, such as iTunes, that allow visitors to download music lawfully. Your obligation as a librarian, according to the copyright law, is relatively minor. You should post appropriate signs at or near your public access computers. The wording of the notices should be similar to the "copyright warning" signs that libraries have been posting above photocopy machines for several years. A sign with the following message should suffice: "materials found on the Web may be protected by copyright. Further reproduction of copyright protected materials may be an infringement of the copyright law." It is also wise to post signs or label any equipment capable of making copies, such as audiocassette players or recorders.

You are not responsible for policing the activities of students or other library users. In fact, for many librarians, tracking the behaviors of library users is in direct conflict with patrons' privacy rights. You may decide, after consulting with your colleagues, to play a more active role—perhaps by having students complete a copyright tutorial before being allowed to have access to your computers or by requiring students to sign a sheet whenever they use a computer.

You may occasionally witness activity that appears to be a clear copyright infringement. Again, you must decide how your school will handle these situations. For example, should you approach the alleged infringer and give him a warning or cancel the student's computer privileges or report the incident to the principal?

Whether your library will be held liable for a student's infringing acts is another issue. Even though a student may have violated the law, a copyright holder might decide to sue the student as well as the school or library, perhaps as a contributory infringer. I believe this is very unlikely, and I have no evidence to suggest that this has ever occurred. Section 512 of the copyright law includes a provision for Internet service providers that protects them from third-party infringement. To qualify for this protection, the provider must identify a contact person at the institution and register his or her name with the U.S. Copyright Office. If a copyright holder believes that an infringing act has occurred via the use of a computer network maintained by the provider, the holder can contact the selected individual to report the activity and request that some action be taken. Internet service providers, such as AOL and many higher educational institutions that provide network services (like e-mail) to their communities, have taken advantage of this protection. However, it is debatable whether a high school would be considered an Internet service provider under Section 512. For more information, see the U.S. Copyright Office Circular on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act at www.loc.gov/copyright.

Our Book Club Collection provides patrons with a brief summary of each title. Many of the summaries have been taken directly from reviews on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble's Web site. Since we're not using the entire review, is it necessary to cite our sources? Or do we need to write our own summaries?
—Diane Wisniewski, selection librarian, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs, CO

If you copy the text of summaries, you may be infringing copyright. There is a slight possibility that given the circumstances, the copying could be fair use. Perhaps this would be true if only a very small portion of a review was used. If you copy any portion of the summaries without citing the source, you are engaged in plagiarism, which is not a violation of the copyright law, but is unethical. My suggestion would be to cite the source of the summary if you believe that the portion copied is a fair use. Think of the movie-review blurbs you find in newspapers. The source of the review—for example, "two thumbs up!"—is always cited. Alternatively, you could write your own book reviews.