This site is intended for informational purposes only. Library staff members cannot give legal advice. For legal advice, our users must contact an intellectual property attorney. Legal counsel for Calvin is Randy Vogelzang, Director of Gift Planning and Major Gifts. (arv38@calvin.edu)
"The constitutional purpose of copyright is to facilitate the flow of ideas in the interest of learning"...The primary purpose of our copyright laws is not to reward the author, but rather to secure for the public the benefits from the creations of authors." Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988.
"From the infancy of copyright protection, some opportunity for fair use of copyrighted materials has been thought necessary to fulfill copyright's very purpose, 'to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts...'" Supreme Court Justice David Souter.