The Right to Hire an Attorney at an Academic Press

The Chronicle of Higher Education has an important article about the copyright troubles of an anthology of essays about composer and violist Rebecca Clarke. The Chronicle article is behind a subscription wall, but you can read it on Fair Use Fighter Siva Vaidhyanathan's blog Sivacracy.net (More Copyright vs. Knowledge). I definitely recommend reading the whole thing.

The book at issue, A Rebecca Clarke Reader, is described as "The First Book On This Significant And Popular Composer." The book, according to the Rebecca Clarke Society homepage,

considers the life, works, and career of the English composer Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979). Leading scholars present original research on Clarke's songs, chamber music, and contemporary musical milieu, supplemented with new editions of rare writings by Clarke herself. Readers will particularly enjoy transcriptions of four interviews with the composer, where Clarke speaks candidly about her fascinating life.

The completed book had reached reviewers before it was hastily withdrawn. Christopher Johnson of the Oxford University Press manages Clarke's estate and has leveled accusations of copyright infringement against the book. Obviously, without access to the book, it isn't clear whether or not the allegations of copyright infringement are true or not. However, we do know that in addition to copyright infringement, the cease and desist letter claims that the book includes "defamatory and libelous statements regarding Mr. Johnson." The Chronicle notes that:

One university press's book recalled at the insistence of an employee at another academic press presents an exquisite irony. But the tale of A Rebecca Clarke Reader also illustrates a much larger problem: University presses, affected by shifting interpretations of copyright law, lack the resources to test the provisions of that law.

Indeed. Donna Wentworth explains it thus (University Press Refuses to Be Fair Use Guinea Pig):

The problem isn't that Ms. Curtis should be able to use any copyrighted materials she chooses -- she may indeed have violated Mr. Johnson's copyrights. It's that without sufficient funds or friends of the pro bono persuasion, there isn't any contest. The threat of a lawsuit is alone adequate to decide the "case" in favor of the copyright holder. This means that even (or especially) in academic publishing, the bottom line is the bottom line -- because, as the Indiana press music editor puts it, "No one has $11-million to test the gray areas." [link in original]

There is much more in the Chronicle's article that is spot on reporting. Again, read the whole thing. However, I will finish with just one more interesting nugget from the article:

Despite the press's demand that she return the 200 copies of the Reader in her possession, Ms. Curtis says that she is keeping them. "I have my 200 copies that I give to reporters and to libraries," she wisecracks. "I can start photocopying things and turn it into a PDF and have it circulate samizdat."