Ga. State Answers E-Reserve Lawsuit

State attorneys in Georgia have answered a landmark lawsuit filed in April by publishers, including two university presses and supported by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), filed against Georgia State University (GSU) personnel over the university's use of electronic course content. Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker's stance is essentially “fair use,” though the university also claims state sovereign immunity, among other defenses.

The response sheds little new light on how GSU will fight its case; a settlement not unlike those reflected in guidelines reached under AAP pressure at other universities is still possible. GSU attorneys readily admit that the university “offers digitized course excerpts through its library electronic course reserves service,” as well as through course management services and the faculty web site but said it was fair use. Also, they denied that GSU made the suit necessary, as publishers have contended, by refusing to engage publishers about its practices.