--- Forwarded Message from Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 13:18:02 -0400
>From: Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]>
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>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum   
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>Subject: Re: #8547 Copyright Question
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> I'm the new part-time coordinator for the language lab in the intensive
> English program here at Iowa State, where we have a ton of old paper- and
> cassette-based materials that are collecting dust on our shelves.

It is not legal to digitize it without permission.

A possible exception might be if cassette players are so antiquated you 
don't have them any more and this is the only way you can access the 
material. That wouldn't work for a book, though! And it only applies to 
libraries that serve the public, I think.

Look in your files and see whether there is a folder of permissions 
regarding this material. While foreign-language textbook publishers 
typically give (occasionally sell) permission to copy or digitize 
materials FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE PURCHASED THE TEXTBOOK, ESL publishers 
often do not give such permission. I think they assume the students are 
more motivated and can purchase such materials themselves. At any rate, 
such permissions usually apply only to the audio for a textbook 
currently in use.

A turnkey language lab, if you have one, should allow you to play a 
cassette for a student or group of students. Often such tapes were 
designed to be used this way by an instructor.

This kind of old ESL material is one reason we keep a few cassette 
players in the lab (the remnants of our trusty 1987 Sony lab). The 
students can sort through the old books, pick out one that appeals to 
them, find the tape, and sit down to work with book and tape. A few 
students a year do this regularly.

But--most of these ESL materials in our lab DO collect dust, because 
they are not appropriate for self-study (old course books) or outdated 
(Toefl/TSE prep).

I am not sure what to do with the old materials. You could give them 
away to students who want them, maybe, if they are complete sets, or to 
teachers who are familiar with the materials. If you only have one set 
of tapes and many books, that's not as useful to anyone.

Judy Shoaf