Copying library CD? You just broke law.
October 8th, 2009“Copyright is an important issue, but it’s difficult to oversee,” said Ann Moore, Upper Arlington Library spokeswoman. “Once they take materials home, we can’t control what they do with them.”
Copying music or a book from a library CD is a form of piracy just like illegal downloads on the Internet.
The recording industry sent Ohio State University 2,336 notices about instances of students’ music piracy during the 2007-08 school year, but companies can’t track copies of library disks unless police catch someone selling copies.
“We think this is best addressed through education,” said Jonathan Lamy, spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America. “Libraries are uniquely outfitted to raise awareness.”
Carrie Russell, a copyright specialist for the American Library Association, said many people simply don’t know they’re breaking the law.
Patrons often think the “fair use” law means it’s OK to make copies for personal use, Russell said. It’s not, and there are rules about how many seconds of a song can be copied and for what reasons.
As for people who know and break the rules:
“If they tell us they’re doing it or it’s really obvious, we sometimes give them a little talk,” said Bexley audio-visual clerk Deborah Brannigan.
“One fellow was obviously trying to systematically download our entire collection and coming in every two days. We told him to slow down a little bit.”
The Columbus Metropolitan Library system has 94,561 music CDs, and only a few of the newer additions are starting to arrive with copy-lock technology, spokeswoman Kim Snell said.
At the main branch last week, a Delaware County resident was one of several patrons who said he had copied files but returned a handful of CDs without question.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous after discovering it was illegal, said he copies “oldies” and children’s songs.
“I’ve never really thought about it,” he said. “Copying is kind of the whole reason why you check CDs out.”
Russell said it’s to the point where she plans to put together a fact sheet for librarians.
“I tell them they need to develop a policy just as they would have a policy for what to do if someone exposes himself in the library,” she said.
Copyright law requires libraries to post signs over photocopiers outlining the law, but librarians also can put prominent copyright warnings labels voluntarily on CD cases and computers. When people apply for library cards, they could be asked to sign a form and promise to obey copyright rules.
Russell said some libraries devise a warning and expulsion system for people who get caught.
They also could set up a computer system that flags repeated withdrawals of stacks of CDs over short periods of time. But library employees would have to be careful not to monitor content.
“What we need to do is give reminders as best we can,” Russell said. “But we don’t want to police things.”
“Unfortunately, due to copyright issues and a lack of standard MP3 software or MP3 devices, Columbus Metropolitan Library staff are not able to help you download music to your portable device.”
