Copyright laws upheld for journals

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Sept 1, 1992

Publishers cheered a federal court ruling in New York City in July that found Texaco had infringed the copyrights of a number of scientific and technical journals when employees photocopied articles. In the course of discovery, James Parver, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the six plaintiffs "found literally thousands of photocopies of articles." He says the practice is fairly widespread in industry and came as no surprise to the six plaintiffs, who filed a class-action suit.

"Publishers are not seeking to prevent photocopies or to inhibit scientific research. They simply want to be compensated for the use of their material." The ruling is expected to be a boon to the Copyright Clearance Center in Salem, Massachusetts, which has been designated by book and magazine publishers to function as a clearinghouse for companies seeking compensation for use of copyright material. Texaco maintains that it had remitted fees to CCC on some occasions; CCC confirmed that, but says Texaco did not purchase an annual license.