Online Conference

Ooooo - I just wanted to tear my eyeballs out. Copyright is not my favorite subject to begin with, but to have to sit through an entire two hour online lecture done by two librarians in two far flung states was purely boring!

It's not that they were unknowledgeable of the topic. On the contrary, they were well informed. It's just that there are no black and white hard and fast rules to follow, and that is what the attendees wanted to hear. Tell me exactly what is legal and what is not and I will just do that.

But alas! There are no lines to be drawn. The best they could say is that each institution must decide their own interpretation of the nebulous legalities, develop their policies, and take their chances. If you get caught, then perhaps your institution might help further define the slippery slope of copyright contingencies.

What it really comes down to is money, of course. If by our allowing access to information we are preventing someone from being recompensed for their work, we are in the wrong. Unless of course it falls under fair use. See what I mean? Double talk.

Well, it won't be settled anytime soon. It was good to know that we are proceeding as our peer institutions are proceeding, but I could have said that in a lot less than two hours!