Last December several USA based members of the International Authors Forum including the National Writers Union, The Authors Guild joined a diverse coalition of writers and photographers organisations to oppose a case of books and journals being scanned wholesale for university classes without payment to the original creators. This coalition presented a “friends of the court” brief on a court case on this issue.
The case in question regards Georgia State University, where the university has been scanning works from a single copy and making collected electronic copies of the scans available to students without paying for the right to do so. Previously in the USA, in a similar case regarding a university distributing printed coursepacks of works, a Federal court ruled that this was copyright infringement and not “fair use”. International Authors Forum members hope to see this precedent applied as the case with Georgia State University goes to the US Court of Appeals.
The International Authors Forum support a balance between user access and creator reward, respecting this balance drives creation and creates opportunities for students to access their work. We hope this is considered in the US Court of Appeals, and support our members message about the risks of violation writers’ copyrights.