Copyright law is a critical issue for authors, librarians, publishers,
and information vendors. It is also a complex area, with many shades of
gray. Librarians continually need to seek answers to questions ranging
from the reproduction of copyrighted works for library users, through
the performance of audiovisual works, to the digitization and display of
protected works on library websites. This book presents updated versions
of the author's copyright columns published in Against the Grain, the
leading journal in acquisitions librarianship since the late 1990s. It
is the first volume in the series Charleston Insights in Library,
Archival, and Information Sciences. The aim of the Charleston Insights
series is to focus on important topics in library and information
science, presenting the issues in a relatively jargon-free way that is
accessible to all types of information professionals, including
librarians, publishers, and vendors, and this goal shapes the pragmatic
and accessible tone of the book. The volume is presented in
question-and-answer format. The questions are real, submitted by
librarians, educators, and other information professionals who have
attended the author's copyright law workshops and presentations or
submitted them to her by e-mail or telephone. The author has selected
the questions and answers that have general applicability. She has then
arranged them into logical chapters, each prefaced by a short
introduction to the topic. Because it is written in an accessible and
clear style, readers may want to review the entire work or they can just
access particular chapters or even specific questions as they need them.
The volume includes an index to facilitate reference use.