Siva sez, "A group of 22 Media studies scholars from around the country signed on to this brief, which was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday:"
Amici are deeply concerned that recent legal, commercial, and political turmoil surrounding the proliferation and use of "peer-to-peer" communicative technologies threaten to chill legitimate contributions to teaching and research in this nation's institutions of higher education. This Court and the United States Congress have clearly articulated the value of education and scholarship to the workings of the Republic. Further, both acknowledge that teaching and research often require the unauthorized copying, distribution, re-fashioning, and performance of copyrighted works without permission from the copyright holder, and thus have cleared a space within the strictures of copyright law to allow for such publicly beneficial uses. The foundation of that space is "fair use," which, though an affirmative defense to the accusation of infringement, has granted educators a certain measure of comfort that they would not be sued by copyright holders for infringement. However, the penumbra of perceived "users' rights" that emanate from Sec. 107 of the Copyright Act has proven inadequate to protect many important acts central to teaching and research. Within this context, the academic utility of searching, indexing, and sharing of copyrighted materials remains in doubt among educators and scholars. Doubt creates a chilling effect, stifling the most creative uses of digital technology in the classroom or in academic research.
(Thanks, Siva!)
