In Dan Burk's last post regarding Laura Gurak's appendix on fair use, he wrote:

Laura was graced with a publisher who was willing to back her principled stance <snip> Having said that, I think we also need to recognize that there is something of a chicken-and-egg problem involved; publishers and universities are more likely to back the fair use of authors and researchers if we demand that they do so. Consequently, someone has to be willing to take the initial risk of asserting fair use. I would hope that the research community would be willing to step forward and take that initial risk, but it's necessary to understand the potential downside before doing so.

My sentiments exactly, Dan. When *Cyberliteracy* came out I expressed appreciation personally to Laura for doing just that (as I'm sure Dan did). Laura-- if you're reading this-- could you give us some of the background on how Yale Press came to publish the appendix on fair use? Were you 'graced' or did you make the inclusion of that appendix a condition of publication for you in selecting a publisher? This is a timely conversation, as Steve Schneider and I are currently involved in negotiating a book contract with an academic press (the name of which I will not disclose at this time) for a book that uses many archival Web objects-- all duly attributed (to the author/producer), located (with original & archival URLs), dated (time-stamped when collected). We have sent the press a copy of Laura's appendix, and have made it clear that it is a high priority to us to employ the model she used of *not* seeking permissions from site producers to display archival impressions of their publicly posted Web objects as a matter of principle, in order to exercise (and thereby strengthen-through-use) the fair use doctrine. Initial verbal indications from the editor have been positive, but we want this understanding to be formalized in the contract, and we'd like to include a similar type of statement about fair use in the book itself (citing Laura & Yale Press, of course). As we wait for a response, it would be great to learn about similar negotiations anyone else has had with publishers. -Kirsten ************************************* Kirsten A. Foot, PhD Assistant Professor, Communication Co-Director, WebArchivist.org University of Washington Box 353740 Seattle, WA 98195-3740 206-543-4837 kfoot@u.washington.edu