Know Your Copyrights — Association of Research Libraries (original) (raw)

Since the inception of copyright law in the US, libraries have enjoyed special rights to promote the progress of science and the useful arts. This page is meant to support libraries in proactively asserting these rights, particularly when signing contracts for digital works under copyright.

Below is an illustration of the rights that libraries rely on to fulfill their core missions. In addition to the fair use right codified in Section 107 and the first sale doctrine in Section 109, the US Congress has adopted specific statutory rights affirming the lawfulness of certain activities, particularly those related to accessibility, teaching, learning, and research.

Fair use is a critical mechanism by which to ensure that these rights persist in the digital environment.

For instance, in Authors Guild v. HathiTrust, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that making digital copies of works to create a full-search database and provide access for the print disabled is a fair use. In the decision, the court held that the use of digital copies to facilitate access for print-disabled persons is transformative.

The court continued, “Even if it were not, ‘[m]aking a copy of a copyrighted work for the convenience of a blind person is expressly identified by the House Committee Report as an example of a fair use, with no suggestion that anything more than a purpose to entertain or to inform need motivate the copying.’ ” Clarifying the relationship between fair use and other library rights, the court stated, “Here, fair use does not undermine Section 108, but rather supplements it.”

In the AI context, ingesting online works to train large language models is likely a fair use. Libraries can use the information on this page to negotiate with vendors to preserve the right to use AI for research, teaching, and learning purposes in license agreements for digital scholarly works.