Electronic Reserves and the Copyright Challenge in Canada

Abstract

Although widely adopted at university and college libraries in the United States, Electronic Reserve services in Canada have developed at a much slower pace. Based on the results of an extended pilot project for Electronic Reserves at a medium-sized university library in Canada, the author concludes that the most significant barrier to this development is the restrictive nature of copyright law in Canada. Results of an informal survey of university libraries in Canada seem to confirm this assumption. A brief overview of copyright law in Canada as it pertains to Electronic Reserves is discussed, as is the process of copyright reform recently undertaken by the Canadian government. Finally, an argument in favor of a broadened interpretation of ‘fair dealing’ (the Canadian version of ‘fair use’) is made as it may pertain to the development of Electronic Reserves services in Canadian academic libraries.

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