A federal judge in Atlanta sided with Georgia State University on several copyright infringement claims filed by three publishing houses.

Senior U.S. District Judge Orinda Evans rejected 69 of 74 copyright claims against the university filed by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and SAGE Publications.

The publishers claimed the school allowed "massive" copyright violations by allowing professors to download and reproduce excerpts from course materials.

Evans found that the "fair use doctrine" protected a professor's decision to allow students to access an excerpt online through the school's Electronic Reserves System.

The school's attorney says the ruling offers guidance to colleges on how to develop policies for electronic access.

Tags: Georgia State University, copyright lawsuit, publishing