ARL Policy Notes, Finally, An Easy-ish Question
Connotea Imports 2012-03-09
Summary:
"Does anything in Section 108 of the Copyright Act in any way affect the right of fair use as provided by Section 107?...“Nothing in this Section in any way affects the right of fair use as provided by section 107.”
So libraries (and anyone else) have the same fair use rights under Section 107 as they would have if Section 108 did not exist. The scope of those rights is still up for debate (though I can recommend some resources that will help sort things out), but we know one thing for sure: fair use is completely separate from Section 108. Settled beyond rational dispute, right? You’d think so.
In what seems like a Swift-ian satire masquerading as a legal brief, the Authors Guild argues that, in fact, despite 108(f)(4), everything in Section 108 comprehensively affects the right of fair use as provided by Section 107, at least for libraries...."