The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

US libraries hold on to pulped book

24.08.07

US libraries are resisting calls from Cambridge University Press to withdraw Alms for Jihad, reports Library Journal.

Alms for Jihad was the target of a potential libel suit in England by Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, whose charitable activities have reportedly been linked to terrorist activities, as conveyed in the book. In response, CUP pulped its unsold copies of the book, put it out of print, asked libraries to pull it, and agreed to pay damages.

However, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has now recommended libraries resist CUP's request. Libraries "are under no legal obligation to return or destroy the book," said OIF deputy director Deborah Caldwell-Stone. "Libraries are considered to hold title to the individual copy or copies. Given the intense interest in the book, and the desire of readers to learn about the controversy firsthand, we recommend that US. libraries keep the book available for their users." Rather than discard the book, many libraries are safeguarding it, keeping it on hold, at the reserves desk, notes the journal.

The authors hope to republish in the US and are currently negotiating with CUP for a rights reversion.

You can read a blog from Kevin Taylor intellectual property director at Cambridge University Press here.

Library Journal

CUP Cambridge University Press Alms for Jihad

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