Emerald
VqI 83. No 51
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Friday. November 13, 1981
Photocopiers face infringement laws
By MICHAEL MORROW
Of tw ErnaraM
Most people ignore the "Warning
Concerning Copyright Restrictions"
signs posted above every self-service
machine in Kinko's as they photocopy a
friend's textbook
However, like hundreds of other daily
photocopy users, they probably are
breaking federal law PL 94-533 to be
exact
While it is improbable, they could end
up being sued in federal court If found
guilty, they could be fined actual
damages — the amount not spent on a
textbook — and statutory damages of up
to $10,000
While the McGraw-Hill publishing
company probably won't haul a person
through the mud as a "copyright in
fringer," it is concerned about the mas
sive number of pages copied every year
One hundred pages of a textbook copied
by several hundred students in several
hundred universities adds up to a great
loss of money
As the numbers have mushroomed
into the millions of dollars, members of
the American Association of Publishers
have grown concerned, as well as major
copier manufacturers and the print
shops and libraries that own the a
machines
A recent court decision is adding
fuel to the fire The Ninth Circuit Court
of Appeals rule Oct 19 that Sony Cor
poration of America is liable financially
for copyright infringement by individuals
using their equipment in their own
homes
Sony was sued by Universal City
Studios, which alleged it would lose
revenues because advertisers wouldn't
pay for air time on vidoetaped shows
Deciding that enforcement is impossi
ble at the actual level of infringement (the
home), the courts went after the man
ufacturer Thus. Xerox Corporation
might be responsible financially for pub
lishers' lost revenues due to copyright
infringement by people using Xerox's
photocopy machines
Part of Xerox s legal department has
been assigned to work on the problem
fulltime, and Kinko's, a nationwide fran
chise of over I00 shops, asks each shop
to send several hundred dollars monthly
Students, profs technically guilty
107: Limitations on exclusive rights:
Fair use
Notwithstanding the provisions of
106, the fair use of a copyrighte
including such use hy reproductio
or phonerecords or by any
specified by that section, for p
criticism, comment, news
(including multiple co
scholarship, or
ment of copyri
the use made
is a fair use
ge
ether
case
shall
e ancnpraracter of the use,
r such use is of a commer
for nonprofit educational
of the copyrighted work:
amount and substantialtiy of the
used in relation to the copyrighted
as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential
market for or value of the copyrighted work.
(Added Pub. L. 94-553, title I, 101, Oct. 19,
1976, 90 Stat. 2546.)
I
I
to a legal fund
"No part of this publication may be
reproduced in any form including
photocopy without permission in
writing from the publisher .
This copyright statement, found at the
beginning of most books and many other
publications, is the law for local Kinko s
manager Dave Gibson, despite its in
consistent interpretations and en
forcement
"We are not in business to infringe
copyrights, and we will simply refuse to
reproduce material that is obviously
copyrighted." Gibson says
Although Kinko's cannot police every
document copied by the self-service
machines, the law is posted visibly in the
shop, he adds
Gibson says he is sensitive to student
and faculty needs but says he must con
orm to copyright laws. For instance,
jvery University faculty member must
sign a release form assuring Kinko’s that
le or she is complying with the Fair Use
clause
The Fair Use clause interprets copy
ight laws and addresses the public's
ight of access to information.
Education, as a part of that information
access guaranteed by the United States
Constitution, is treated as a special case,
i The clause recognizes a special need
|k for "greater certainty and protec
tion for teachers.”
The clause allows teachers cer
tain rights to copy material unavailable to
the public. In a 1973 Federal case —
Williams and Wilkins versus the United
States — the court ruled "flat proscrip
tion on photocopying would impede
research."
While teachers are well protected, the
status of students under the Fair Use
clause is unclear.
The AAP view is instructors and
students have similar purposes, and
"fair-use copies are intended essentially
to supplement the use of the purchased
work and not to serve as a substitute,"
says Charles Lieb, the association’s at
torney
"The guidelines offer a minimum stan
dard," Vetri says "They also leave a
large gray area where it becomes the
judgment of the individual.”
The gray area scares Dave Gigler,
manager of the EMU printshop
"I used to get cold chills about some of
the things that we would copy in here,”
Gigler says
The idea of an FBI agent looking over a
student s shoulder is pretty unreasona
ble at this point, but a legal decision that
would require photocopy machine man
ufacturers to pay publishers money to
offset revenue losses from copyright
infringement apparently is possible
A plan requiring print shops to pay
publishers a set fee as a "license" cur
rently is being discussed, Gigler says
Print shops "could copy anything at all,
and that pool of money would go to
publishers to offset lost revenues," he
says
The added fee, Gigler says, probably
would be passed to the consumer by
raising copy prices
Students fail to pay tuition and registration
By ANN PORTAL
Ot tiw Enwrald
More than 180 University
students paid tuition and fees
late this term, and more than
200 students haven't paid at
all
Although the combined
number of students who
missed the second-week
deadline is the lowest in two
years, associate registrar Herb
Cherek says he is concerned
and would like to see a crack
down on late payments
"I think two weeks into the
term to pay your fees is rather
liberal and permissive," Cher
ek says
Students who have not yet
paid tuition are attending
school improperly, he says In
addition, the University also
must absorb the cost of
producing registration mater
ials and processing for
students who never show up,
Cherek says
Nearly 99 percent of the
student body paid fees during
the first two weeks of the term,
but 187 paid late and 236 still
haven’t paid
Yet the total number of
students who missed the
deadline is the lowest in the
past seven terms The 423
students who failed to pay by
Sept 30 compares to 557 last
fall and 648 last winter
But the improvement
doesn’t impress Cherek
Processing late fees is time
consuming and inefficent.
Late-paying students must
have their fees reassessed and
a late fee assessed Late fines
increased this year to $10 for
the first day and $2 for each
additional day, up to a total of
$50
In addition, each student
who misses the two-week
deadline must submit a peti
tion to the Academic require
ments Committee, asking to
be allowed to register late
Students are not considered
formally registered until they
pay fees
That committee may begin
taking a more serious look at
each request and the reason
given for late registration,
Cherek says
One frequent reason given
so far this year is the late ar
rival of Guaranteed Student
Loans. However, he says "the
financial aid office has gone
out of its way” to accom
modate students whose loans
are late, extending deferred
tuition and emergency loans
"There is ample opportunity
to come up with some ways or
means to pay fees. "
Cherek acknowledges
students with prior debts, who
are ineligible for emergency
loans, may have problems
coming up with tuition But he
says students who can't come
up with $180 for the first
deferred tuition installment will
have financial problems
throughout the term.
Many of the late payers are
chronic offenders who also
have problems with financial
aid, Cherek says, and he is
trying to talk individually with
those students
Besides the administrative
hassles caused by late fees,
Cherek says the University
loses entitlement money for
each student who pays after
the fourth week
But Keith Jackson, assistant
budget director for the State
Board of Higher Education,
says late fees have no effect
on entitlement money The
board revises enrollment
figures during the term, he
says, and students who
'eventually show up” can be
added in