TAR: digitizing copyright issue

[Kimberly Royle <kimberlyroyle@YAHOO.COM>]

We have a computer program called Kurzweil that
digitizes text and allows students to listen to
passages rather than read them.  Our students using
this program are dyslexic.  Since we are a private
school, the students do not have any state recognized
"label" and thus do not have federal guidelines for
IEPs.

My head master came to me this morning and said that
he had a person from another state asked how we got
around copyright laws using Kurzweil.  In this
person's state, only students who had it written in an
IEP could use such a program. Since I have been
working so hard to educate the school on copyright, I
would really like to be able to address this issue.

I believe the issue is changing the format of the
original copyright work.  I have done some research
but have not really come up with anything concrete as
to whether or not this program causes us to violate
copyright.  The files (saved on the computer only) are
used in school only and are not saved/stored for later
use.  The passages come primarily from textbook
chapters; and the entire work is not changed.
(meaning that we generally only digitize portions of
the work)   Anyone have any experience with this or
know if we are okay with fair use?

The program is quite powerful (much more so than
buying a book on tape) as it allows for outlining,
word lists, change of voice tone, pitch, pace, etc.

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Kim
kimberlyroyle@yahoo.com


=====
Kimberly A. Royle
Librarian, K-12

ASSETS School
Honolulu, HI 96818
kimberlyroyle@yahoo.com



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