Promote the Progress has a very interesting post on Kinko's copyright policy (Kinko's won't help you infringe...):

I was at Kinko's this week, and grabbed a brochure entitled "Copyrights & Trademarks." Apprently, Kinko's "want[s] you to be aware of the legal issues involved when copying trademarked, copyrighted and restricted materials."

According to the brochure, Kinko's "requires that customers receive written permission from the...owner before reproducing any...material." How do you get permission? Kinko's will help...the brochure includes a "Copyright/Trademark Permission Request Form." Basically, a person who wants to make copies provides all of their personal information, and indicates the number of copies desired and the intended use and distribution of the copies. Give the completed form to a Kinko's associate, and they will give you a complimentary fax to the copyright/trademark owner. No copies allowed until the form is sent back.

I didn't think to do this while I was at the store, but I think I'll ask a few Kinko's associates how often they have received completed forms (and given the complimentary fax). [emphasis in original]

Of course, we can thank what I consider a bad court decision for ridiculous requirements like this: Basic Books, Inc. v. Kinko's Graphics Corporation. The case basically found the copying center liable for infringement for providing copied course packets to students.

I've never really understood why the copyright holders didn't sue either the professors or the universities involved. It was easier, sure, but it seems to me that the copying house served more as a neutral distributor, without the expertise to make determinations of whether the course packets given it by professors were infringing or not. How are the minimum-wage employees of a commodity business supposed to weigh the fair use factors when determining whether 25 pages copied from a book for purposes of educational use are a "fair use" or not?

Why shouldn't the copying house be held non-liable and the professors and/or universities be held liable for the infringement?