[A2k] US: Testing fair use and the 11th amendment

[Manon Ress]

For US State Universities sued by publishers, there's fair use AND the
11th Amendment:
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against
one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens
or Subjects of any Foreign State.

See more at WCL AU PIJPL:
http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/news/in-lawsuit-georgia-state-asserts-=
that-downloading-copyrighted-texts-is-fair-use

In Lawsuit, Georgia State Asserts That Downloading Copyrighted Texts
Is Fair Use

Andrea Foster
Chronicle of Higher Education
June 26, 2008

In a closely watched copyright-infringement lawsuit, Georgia State
University fired back this week at its accusers, three academic
publishers that say the institution invites students to illegally
download and print readings from thousands of works. The university
asserts that its online distribution of course material is permitted
under copyright law's fair-use exemption.

Georgia State made its case in papers filed on Tuesday in U.S.
District Court in Atlanta.

The three publishers=97Oxford University Press, Cambridge University
Press, and Sage Publications=97sued the university in federal court in
April, arguing that course readings that professors and librarians
disseminated online infringed publishers' copyrights.

The publishers are asking a judge to order Georgia State to stop
distributing course material in that way.

The university admits that it was offering the material online to
students through the following means: electronic reserves in the
library, the Blackboard/WebCT Vista course-management system,
department Web pages, and other Web sites. But the university says the
practice is allowed under the fair-use doctrine of the Copyright Act.

full story on the Chronicle of Higher Education website.



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Manon Ress
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