Is It Legal to Save PDFs on My Computer & Link to EndNote Records?

Now that the latest version of EndNote (i.e. X2) makes it much easier to capture and organize PDFs, users of EndNote and other reference management applications must consider the legal aspects of storing copies of PDFs. I'm having difficulty finding information that specifically addresses this issue. However, I assume that this is legal, i.e. does not violate copyright, under something called the Fair Use Doctrine, which allows the use of copyrighted material for teaching, learning and scholarship. Unfortunately the area of what is "fair use" is a little murky. I did find this information posted by the University of Melbourne:

"Saving pdfs of items in an EndNote Library is permitted for the purposes of research and study (s 40) under Fair Dealing in the Copyright Act 1968. However, sharing pdfs as part of an EndNote library s not permitted and would be an infringement of the Copyright Act 1968."

Obviously, this applies to Australia, but until I get clarification I assume it can be taken as a general guide to keeping electronic copies of PDFs. I'll keep you posted. Comments and information on this issue most welcome!

Here's a brief description of the Fair Use Doctrine