As a librarian, do you need to care about copyright law? Carrie Russell’s newest book on the subject is a plea for librarians and schoolteachers to become familiar with copyright law so that we will stop shortchanging our constituencies. In her view, the less we know, the greater our tendency to be overly conservative, thereby denying our students or patrons access to materials that probably are permissible under copyright law. Is there a painless way to find answers to our questions on copyright? No, not really. She eschews the idea that checklists can really serve any meaningful purpose. Instead, she aims to empower librarians with information so that they are prepared when new challenges arise. To that end, she does an excellent job of guiding readers through the basic framework of copyright law, citing court cases, the United States Code, and other official sources without inundating the reader with legalese. She clearly understands the needs of her audience inside and out. Each chapter is loaded with examples applicable to the kind of work that librarians do every day at every kind of library. She also appears to be quite conversant with the law, as one would expect from someone who has served as the ALA’s copyright specialist for more than ten years.

Those who have read Russell’s previous book, Complete Copyright: an Everyday Guide for Librarians (ALA, 2004), might wonder whether this book is intended to supersede it. That is something of a mystery. The previous book is still available in print and, in this reviewer’s opinion, is a better product overall. It is twice as long and goes into much more depth than the newer book. The 2004 volume included mini-capsules of the leading legal cases, a feature that is missing in the 2012 book. Moreover, the table of contents in the new book is worthless. In fact, the book as a whole is challenging to use for reference: it is difficult to zero in quickly on specific facets of copyright law. Complete Copyright for K–12 Librarians and Educators works better as a supplement to the previous title. It is not, by any means, the kind of comprehensive guide implied by the title.

Recommended for libraries that own copies of Carrie Russell’s Complete Copyright: An Everyday Guide for Librarians, published by ALA in 2004.