The new AASL standards clearly spell out ethical responsibilities, which school librarians strive to instill and model as they work with staff and students. In this article, the author presents the AASL standards together with some tips and lesson ideas which she and her library partner have put into practice within their library media program.

On March 10-12, 2008, the World Intellectual Property Organization's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights met in Geneva to begin talking about exceptions to, and limitations on, rights granted to copyright holders by international instruments, a topic which is of vital importance to developing countries. World Intellectual Property…

In this article, the author asserts that technology is not the answer to digital piracy at colleges and universities. Citing the three most common explanations given for copyright infringement--that students cannot always get what they want, cannot always use what they can get, or think the price of what they can get is unfair--he asserts that the…

Music copyright is one of the most complex areas of intellectual property law. To begin with, there is a copyright in notated music and a copyright in accompanying lyrics. When the piece is performed, there is a copyright in the performance that is separate and apart from the copyright in the underlying work. If a sound recording is used in…

The International Children's Digital Library (ICDL) began as a research project funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and Microsoft Research and creates a digital library of outstanding children's books from all over the world (http://www. childrenslibrary.org). The project…

While librarians are concerned about copyright and intellectual property, the extent of their compliance with ethical guidelines and copyright laws is unclear. This study examines, through content analysis, libraries' approaches toward copyright concerns in three countries (Israel, Russia, and the United States), and suggests a model of library…

This guide explains how the United Kingdom Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 affects librarians and information workers in professional bodies and charitable organizations, and offers guidance on interpreting the main provisions of the law. The guide begins by providing definitions, clarifying what materials are subject to copyright, the…

The House Committee on the Judiciary reports favorably on a proposed amendment to a bill (H.R. 4412) to amend Title 17 of the U.S. Code relating to fair use of copyrighted works. The committee recommends passage of the bill to the effect that Section 107 of Title 17 be amended by adding at the end the following: "The fact that a work is…

This article presents an overview of the laws governing the use of computer software, along with an outline of precautions school districts should take to reduce the potential for liability. In 1964 the U.S. Copyright Office began to register software as a form of literary expression. This was followed by the Software Rental Amendments Act, which…

Guidelines for "fair use" of CD-ROM copyrighted materials in multimedia instruction, created through a consortium of college and university media centers, set limits on the amount of a copyrighted work used in a multimedia project, and restrict the number of copies of disks or videos students and teachers can make, allowing use of such works in…

Discusses implications of the copyright fair use doctrine in repurposing available videos for local media production. Changes resulting from new technology are discussed; the use of microcomputers in public schools is examined; the merger of video with computers is described; and the changing roles of teachers in instructional design are…

Contains three special reports: developments in copyright law, 1997 (World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) legislation, Ashcroft Bill, No Electronic Theft Act, database protection, Conference on Fair Use (CONFU), judicial decisions, principles for licensing electronic resources, and Uniform Commercial Code Article 2B); Internet2 and the…

Examines two multilateral approaches that aim to raise the level of intellectual property protection for databases. Discusses how both proposals, the European Union (EU) new Database Directive and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaty fail to provide ample copyright exemption provisions, necessary for offsetting the expanded…

Examines the ambiguities of copyright legislation in regard to art, the origins and intractability of the attitude toward the graphic arts of the American public, and the ways in which librarians, individually and through their professional organizations, can attempt to meet the problem of art censorship. (Author)

A statement by Senator Orrin G. Hatch opened the hearing on The Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1988, a bill which would amend title 17, United States Code, the Copyright Act, to protect certain computer programs. The text of the bill is then presented, followed by the statements of four witnesses: (1) Dr. Alan C. Ashton, president,…