Information Ethics and the library

Being a librarian means that you are the enforcer of information ethics.  The four principles of information ethics are 1.  Respect for intellectual property.  2. Respect for privacy. 3. Fair representation. and 4. Non maleficence ("doing no harm").

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I requested information in regards to copyright law violations which goes with the first principle respect for intellectual property.  I received help from librarians via the Texas Library Associations,Texas Library Connection list serv.  One instance that was reported by a librarian was was a teacher that was working with classes on a World Cultures Fair project.   The teacher was requiring students to create a PowerPoint for the project.  The problem was that the school district had not purchased the rights to the software. The teacher told, her it was not a problem because she had copied the software and given one to each student.  When the librarian found out about the illegal copy right infringement (software piracy) and distributing to the students to install on their computers; the librarian went over the liability issues of the software copyright law. The teacher was very nonchalant about the infringement and continued on with her research project with her students.  The librarian reported the teacher to the district tech department so that she could be addressed for her breach of copyright laws and the liability that she was placing the district in.  I think that the librarian handled it well.  She went over the laws of copyright with the teacher and once the teacher refused to comply she had no choice but to report the teacher to the proper district personnel.

I found some great information about  Software Copyright Law,  if you are interested please follow the link.

Copyright violations don't just happen using the internet and software.  I was able to find out about another situation that was reported by the same librarian.  This was in regards to copyright laws for books/materials.  There were a set of different grade level books purchased by an administrator for "the test" and they were asked to be bar coded and cataloged by the librarian.  When cataloging and entering the books into the system the librarian noted that there was a copyright law that only one teacher and their classes only would be able to use the book/materials.  So the librarian made labels to note the copyright information on the front of the books.  She met with the administration to let them know about the copyright issue with the books and discussed the labels she placed onto the materials.  She offered a copy of the fair use and copyright laws and the administration declined the copy.  The librarian was told to check out the books to the department heads.  Weeks went by and a teacher came to check out a copy of the book in question.  The librarian told the teacher about the copyright issue and how it had been resolved.  The teacher left saying that she would ask about being able to check out the materials.  When leaving the librarian saw the teacher talking with the administrator and she entered the conversation and again offered the copyright and fair use paper and it was declined yet again.  At that time the administrator rolled her eyes.  A few weeks later the books were requested by the administrator (that they be removed from the library catalog) and the school secretary was sent to pick them up.  They were never seen again in the library.  Looking at this situation the librarian was doing her job of making sure that the teachers and administration were following fair use and copy right laws.  It is unfortunate that the administration disregarded the law and moral codes.  I'm not sure what else the librarian could have done to ensure that the law was being followed.  The librarian did keep copies of all emails about the materials in regards to the copyright violations that could be taking place with multiple teachers using the one copy of the book/materials.  Even though she was ridiculed she stuck to her morals and didn't give up with the materials while they were in her library.  What a difficult position the administrator put this librarian in.  I know that most teachers and administrators try to do what is morally right and follow the law.  Maybe one more thing the librarian could have done was have a quick copyright and fair use presentation at a faculty meeting to remind and help reinforce the compliance of fair use and copyright laws.

Great website to get information in regards to Fair Use

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

Copyright violations happen and as librarians we have to be the enforcers to make sure that we do not have any liability to ourselves, schools and districts.  We need to educate others and bring them up to standards on Fair Use vs. Copyright.

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See below for Fair Use -

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Bell, M. (1998). Kiss and Information Ethics. TAET Journal, Spring 1998.