David

I'm not an expert on copyright but here are my views:

I would think it would depend who you are sharing these articles with. If you got them from a Library subscription (eg using Athens authentication) then you probably should share them only with others who have the same rights as you.

If you found them free on the internet, my view is that others could also have found them free and, as long as you acknowledge the source, you're not actually doing anything others couldn't have done for themselves by using a search engine. So, pragmatically, I would either share these articles or, better, share the hyperlink of the article's location.

In copyright terms, the Athens authenticated resources and subscriptions bought by your library will not be bound by copyright law but by contract law. If you post full text, you will probably be breaking the contract and could be sued by the company you have the contract with or the people who provided the access.

With regard to the resources found free on the internet, it would depend what the copyright holder says on the web site. If they say you may view it for personal use only but not save or share, then you're breaking the law. If they don't say anything, you could be justified in assuming that they don't mind if you save or share but I don't think there's any case law on this topic so you could get sued.

You have to do a risk assessment & then make a decision.

Tricia Rey
Library
Queen Victoria Hospital
Holtye Road
East Grinstead
West Sussex
RH19 3DZ
01342 414266
-----Original Message-----
From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Cleland
Sent: 13 December 2013 12:04
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Sharing Documents via Ref Management software - Should I be concerned about copyright?

Dear colleagues,

I have searched the Lis-Medical archives for discussions related to reference management software like Zotero and Mendeley.

I found some useful discussion about how popular these (and other) reference managers are.


But my concern is around Copyright.  


Personally I have been using both Zotero and Mendeley, mainly out of convenience...  The main convenience being that they are both free to use (unless you want to increase your online storage and 'Group' sizes)

I use both because:
- I want to become familiar with more than one application
- I try to remain somewhat impartial if/whenever library users ask about reference management software


Now, I've come to realise that these reference managers have some very useful features.

- Both ref managers allow you to store your collected materials - journal articles - in the 'Cloud'.  These means you can access and read your materials from wherever you have an internet connection.

- Both provide the user with an option to create groups to collaborate and share their references.  

Isn't that clever?  Like minded groups can share links to research and publications they have found useful.  Fantastic.

(I wonder if any of you use this feature as a library?)


But there's more - these reference management sites/tools also provide users/groups the opportunity to share PDF copies of journal articles too.  So, effectively, I can give you access to articles I have uploaded and stored in my cloud and visa-versa.

Okay so, library head off for a moment...  Student head on. (Worzel Gummidge style) 
I think this is fantastic.  As a students/researchers you and I can get access to articles that we might otherwise have to request from our library or pay for.




With Library head back on again - here's my niggling doubts and questions...  

Am I breaching any terms of copyright by sharing articles in this way?

Perhaps not - if the article was freely accessible on the internet anyway (assuming it hadn't been put there by doctors/medical students for a poster presentation.

But what if the article was otherwise protected - something I (or my library) had purchased access to?  


I'd be interested to hear (read) your thoughts on this.


Best regards,

David Cleland

Knowledge Services Administrator
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust



 

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