Professors, Copyright, and Blackboard: Michael Madison to the Rescue!
When the Copyright Clearance Center/Blackboard deal was announced recently, I posted a glib, cynical observation about what it means for fair use. Tarleton Gillespie has gone me one better, with a succinct explanation in Inside Higher Ed of why this is a bad deal for copyright.First, it's a bad deal because it reduces copyright to a brutal transactions costs essence. If a professor posts material on Blackboard, the CCC permissions process automatically kicks in. No more wasting valuable time wondering about "educational" or "teaching" or "critical" uses of copyrighted works. Just pay the man.
Second, it's a bad deal because the technological combination hides that point. The posting and clearance process is supposed to be seamlessly integrated, not only making the transaction itself effortless but completely eliminating the thought process that goes into the fair use equation. Is it permitted or is it not? The machine will literally do the teacher's thinking, and no one -- not the institution, nor the teacher, nor the student -- will be the wiser. Copyright history teaches that copyright is about more than transactions costs. Sometimes, copyright means never having to say you're sorry. But you do need to have the choice.
There is much more in Michael's eloquent post. If you teach at a university, this is a must-read.