A lawsuit, which could have far-reaching consequences for students and faculty, has been filed against Kinko’s Graphic Corporation by a group of eight publishers.

Among the companies filing suit against Kinko’s are McGraw-Hill, Harper & Row and Penguin Books, USA.

The lawsuit, claiming copyright infringements, is designed to reinterpret the 1976 Copyright Act which allows faculty members to make multiple copies of copyrighted materials for use in the classroom under the “fair use” clause.

The rights of the instructor to provide educational materials to students in higher education is protected by “fair use.”

According to the Federal Copyright Law, ” … the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies … for purposes such as criticism, comment, newsreporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.”

Some of the factors which are taken into consideration when determining what is “fair use” include the purpose and character of the use and whether or not it is of a commercial or nonprofit educational nature, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and importance of the portion used in relationship to the copyrighted work as a whole, and the effect of the use upon the potential market or value of the copyrighted work.

Allegedly, it was one of these provisions which were violated.

Jeff Bush, manager of the Kinko’s Copy Center, 901 Lucinda, said, “It (the lawsuit) would hurt the students. If the students had to buy all of the different textbooks that the professors wanted to teach by, the cost would be phenomenal. Basically we are here to help the professors and the students. We feel very strongly that what we are doing is right.”

Kurt Koenig, vice president and copyright and trademark counsel for the Kinko’s Corporation echoed these sentiments.

“Professors across the country depend on Kinko’s to help them provide up-to-the-minute course materials, and clearly the ability to use timely materials is vital to the quality of education that students receive”, he said.

“If the publishing industry is able to eliminate the ability of instructors to provide timely course materials, students will spend more time in library reserve book rooms trying to copy the materials they need.”

Kinko’s idea of copyright protection is clear.

“Kinko’s has worked hard to provide educators with the materials they need while also protecting the rights of the copyright holders.

“Our commitment to copyright protection is unique in the industry. We have 10 full-time co-workers at our national copyright center who contact publishers to obtain their permission to copy their materials. We process over 10,000 permission requests a month and will pay almost $1 million in royalties in 1989,” Koenig said.

Adrianna Foss, director of corporate communications for Kinko’s Graphic Corporation, said both sides are meeting and exchanging information in order to reach a resolution. If this “discovery process” does not produce an agreement, a court date will be scheduled.

See Suit Page 4

Suit

Continued from Page 1