[nabs-l] University Libraries

Sun Feb 8 05:16:28 UTC 2015

Derek
curious, what is your major?
are you studying law?

You seem to know more about the chafee amendment and  fair use than average. 
so I'm curious.
I knew about the chafee amendment, but have learned something about fair use 
doctrine from you today, although the term is not new to me. it was my 
understanding of fair use that it gives instructors and others who need it 
for instruction purposes the legal right to copy and dessiminate part of a 
work to the class.

So what law is that a part of and when was it last amended?
How does fair use apply to blind students?
Are you saying a school can legally copy a entire book or other scholarly 
work for us based on fair use?
Interesting if that is the case because I was under the understanding that 
they could only copy parts of a work or the whole thing if you bought the 
item.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Derek Manners via nabs-l
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2015 7:02 PM
To: Kaiti Shelton
Cc: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] University Libraries

I've never understood the legality of having to show proof of purchase to 
get a PDF for the book. I assume that basically the publisher provides a 
copy because of the proof of purchase but that the Chaffee amendment and 
fair use doctrine allow the school to make a copy on their own, it's 
technically not a legal requirement, just a requirement to get the 
publisher's PDF.   I asked the legal team at NFB for clarification to make 
sure though.

I'd say to explain the situation to the DS office and say that if you need 
to return the copy and have them make you a copy, that's fine. But explain 
to them that legally you don't have to buy the book if others don't have to 
either and that maybe the DS office should ask the publisher for a waiver 
for this specific instance.

Best wishes and I'll post NFB's response.

Derek Manners

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 7, 2015, at 4:38 PM, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> 
> wrote:
>
> Hi all (specifically Derek since he seems particularly knowledgeable
> about this).
>
> I've never had any problems getting library materials scanned for me,
> even when using inter-library loan.  The databases at my school are
> not jaws-friendly at all, so the DS office has usually intervened.
>
> My question to add to Michaels is this:  I have a class where the
> teacher inadvertently chose a textbook that is extremely expensive.
> She has not taught the class in several years, and found this
> psychology book with the updated DSMV invormation and loved it.
> However, when she found out that it was almost $300 she said she would
> have never assigned it had she known the price, and so she stuck a
> copy of the book in the university library on reserve for students to
> use so they wouldn't need to buy it (with the rule being that the book
> could not leave the library).
>
> Now, being a diligent blind student, I submitted my alternative format
> request for the book as soon as the teacher gave me the ISBN and other
> information.  The disability office did all the scanning and editing,
> but I still have not shown them proof of purchase because I have not
> shelled out the $300 for the book.  Should I just show them the
> library copy and explain what happened or do I really need to buy the
> book even though the rest of my class doesn't have to?
>
> Thanks,
>
>> On 2/7/15, Derek Manners via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> After further reading, it hasn't been said completely right. So just to
>> reiterate, it is a violation of the ADA and section 504 of the rehab act 
>> for
>> school libraries not to scan a copy for you. If they don't know about the
>> Chaffee amendment or fair use doctrine (for example the Hathitrust case
>> involving the University of Michigan Library), point them to it. Both are
>> Google-able.
>>
>> Best wishes
>> Derek
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Feb 7, 2015, at 2:12 PM, Derek Manners 
>>> <dmanners at jd16.law.harvard.edu>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> This may have already been said but it is not a violation of copyright
>>> law. The Chaffee amendment allows for reproducing accessible copies for
>>> the blind for non-fiction works and the fair use doctrine has been ruled
>>> to always apply to blind people (see the Hathittust Case for example)
>>> which basically means everything not covered by the Chaffee amendment is
>>> still able to reproduced accessibly for blind folks.
>>>
>>> Best wishes
>>> Derek Manners
>>> 2L Harvard Law and former legal intern at NFB
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On Feb 6, 2015, at 6:54 PM, Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l
>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hello All:
>>>>  Out of curiosity, what are your experiences dealing with the 
>>>> University
>>>> Libraries? According to some of our librarians, at the University of
>>>> Nevada, Reno, necessary accommodations ought to be made, in order to
>>>> allow equal access to all books contained in the libraries. Thus, they
>>>> believe they ought to be able to scan and process or receive already
>>>> accessible formats of any given book. On the other hand, some 
>>>> librarians
>>>> suggested that it is impossible, because it is a violation of copyright
>>>> laws (which is technically true).
>>>>  I am just curious, because in order to complete my thesis research, I
>>>> need access to a book, which is not on Bookshare and I would rather not
>>>> buy it, in the instance that the University already owns it.
>>>> Respectfully,
>>>> Michael Ausbun
>>>>
>>>> Pledge, Kappa Sigma
>>>> Cofounder, University of Nevada, Reno Philosophy Club
>>>> Secretary, Nevada Association of Blind Students
>>>> Member, Honors College of the University of Nevada, Reno
>>>> Member, Speech and Debate at the University of Nevada, Reno
>>>>
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>
>
> -- 
> Kaiti

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