Appeals Court Denies Rehearing in Georgia State Fair Use Case

A federal appeals court has decided it won't rehear a case on whether or not Georgia State University's e-reserves violate publishers' copyright, setting up the possibility for a Supreme Court showdown over fair use. Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Sage Publications, which sued the university in 2008, won a partial victory last October, but nevertheless asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to rehear the case, known as Cambridge v. Patton. The court denied the request on Jan. 2, meaning the publishers' next move may be an appeal to the Supreme Court.