[Athen] Alternate Formats and Varying Editions of Textbooks

[Wink Harner]

Brandon,

I work in the field. It’s my understanding that if non-disabled students
are expected to purchase/rent/borrow their course books, the students with
print related disabilities must purchase their books as well. Proof of
ownership or possession is required by copyright law. Why hold up a double
standard?

Just curious at your justification. Anyone could check the material out
from the library, if there are enough copies. Are you asserting that
because the library owns one copy of a book, this exempts disabled students
from being required to purchase/rent/borrow their books?

It is not the publishers’ legal responsibility to provide accessible copies
of their published books. Should they? A question which we may resolve
during our careers. Perhaps. But to knowingly expose your college to a
violation of current copyright law seems risky to me.

Thanks for indulging me my questions & concerns.

Wink

On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 6:38 PM Butler, Brandon (bcb4y) <bcb4y at virginia.edu>
wrote:


> Hi Wink,

>

> All but the ones who cannot read the formats that textbook publishers have

> chosen to make available for purchase/loan/rent. The law empowers libraries

> and others to provide copies to folks with print disabilities outside the

> market context, because the market has massively, systemically failed to

> serve folks with disabilities. You can learn more in our white paper,

> linked in my last post.

>

> Best,

> Brandon

>

> On Jan 16, 2020, at 8:56 PM, Wink Harner <foreigntype at gmail.com> wrote:

>

> Brandon,

>

> Do none of your students have to buy/borrow/rent textbooks for classes?

>

> Wink Harner

>

>

> On January 16, 2020, at 5:24 PM, "Butler, Brandon (bcb4y)" <

> bcb4y at virginia.edu> wrote:

>

>

> Hi Mary,

>

> On the copyright issue, I wouldn’t worry. There is actually no need for

> the student to buy the textbook at all (see our white paper

> <https://www.arl.org/resources/the-law-and-accessible-texts-reconciling-civil-rights-and-copyrights/> about

> copyright and accessibility) unless the publisher requires it as part of an

> arrangement you have with them (such as through the Access Text Network)

> and you’ve agreed to comply with that requirement. But in that case, I

> would definitely get the latest edition from the publisher.

>

> Best,

> Brandon

>

> On Jan 16, 2020, at 7:50 PM, Mary Popish <popish at pdx.edu> wrote:

>

> Hello, everyone!

>

> I have a question about how different campuses manage alternate format

> delivery for textbooks when the required edition is different from a

> digital version that your office may already have from a previous year or

> other student. For example, if your office has a digital version of the

> sixth edition of a textbook and a student has purchased the seventh edition

> but needs some remediation to make the book accessible digitally, what do

> you do? Do you request the seventh edition from the publisher (or

> Bookshare, or AccessText, or whatever your process is)? Do you check with

> the student and the instructor and deliver the sixth edition if it would

> still work for the class? What about copyright, since the student bought a

> different edition of the book?

>

> We've been talking about this a lot in our office, and we haven't landed

> on a great solution yet. I'd love to hear how other offices handle this

> sort of thing.

>

> Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

>

> Mary

>

> *Mary Popish*

> Adaptive Technology Specialist & Alternate Formats Coordinator

> Disability Resource Center

> Portland State University

>

> Phone: (503) 725-9119

> Fax: (503) 725-4103

> Email: drc at pdx.edu

> URL: http://www.pdx.edu/drc

> Pronouns: she / her / hers

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

> http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

> http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

> http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

-- 
Wink Harner Assistive Technology Consulting and Training Alternative Text
Production Portland OR. foreigntype at gmail.com 480-984-0034
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/pipermail/athen-list/attachments/20200117/bdc6a3a0/attachment.html>