9th January 2006, 11:40 PM
Copyright is a very complex beastie ! Terms such as "in the public domain" and "fair dealing" are much mis-used and mis-understood.
Fair dealing generally means quotations or excerpts can be copied and used. In libraries this is usually interpreted as 1 article or 1 chapter per book/journal issue per person. Most education institutions and reference libraries have copyright compliance agreements which enables teachers etc to make multiple copies for distribution to students but rules are quite strict. In any case copying a whole book for distribution without permission from the authors/copyright holder would contravene copyright, even in the circumstances suggested above. Copyright protects authors/publishers moral rights to their work as well as financial so even though it is less likely to go to court, it would be perfectly valid and possible to sue even if no financial loss could be proved.
Having said all that (with my ex-librarian's hat on) I would agree that it would be a good idea for more detailed H&S info directly relating to archaeology were availalbe in the workplace. Where I work the obligatory H&S at Work posters are in place, both in the main offices and temporary cabins, but not job specific H&S information. I don't think SCAUM has a website but, depending on how large the document is, perhaps they could work alongside the IFA on this to publish online either directly on a web page or as a downloadable pdf.
Fair dealing generally means quotations or excerpts can be copied and used. In libraries this is usually interpreted as 1 article or 1 chapter per book/journal issue per person. Most education institutions and reference libraries have copyright compliance agreements which enables teachers etc to make multiple copies for distribution to students but rules are quite strict. In any case copying a whole book for distribution without permission from the authors/copyright holder would contravene copyright, even in the circumstances suggested above. Copyright protects authors/publishers moral rights to their work as well as financial so even though it is less likely to go to court, it would be perfectly valid and possible to sue even if no financial loss could be proved.
Having said all that (with my ex-librarian's hat on) I would agree that it would be a good idea for more detailed H&S info directly relating to archaeology were availalbe in the workplace. Where I work the obligatory H&S at Work posters are in place, both in the main offices and temporary cabins, but not job specific H&S information. I don't think SCAUM has a website but, depending on how large the document is, perhaps they could work alongside the IFA on this to publish online either directly on a web page or as a downloadable pdf.