Copyright Issues in Higher Education:
Classroom Hand-outs
The Copyright Act of October 19, 1976 is the copyright law of the United States, effective January 1, 1978 (title 17 of the United States Code, Public Law 94-553, 90 Stat. 2541.) This act explains acceptable non-profit academic usage of copyrighted materials, including but not limited to print, art work, music, and recordings.
Addressing Fair Use:
This page will address some of the most common issues that come up with regards to Fair Use of copyrighted materials by non-profit academic institutions. At the end will be a list of Internet resources such as the Copyright Clearance Center’s The Campus Guide to Copyright Compliance and the United States Copyright Office.
Copyright—Symbol & Duration:
Myth: “It is okay to photocopy anything that does not have the copyright symbol or is old or out-of-print.”
The Copyright Office deems any original works to be protected by the Copyright Act from the point of creation, regardless of whether the author/creator has registered the material with the Office. This will include student coursework.
Materials where the author is known and created after January 1, 1978 are protected from the moment of creation until 70 years after the author’s death. For items that are anonymous or contracted, such as art work, the duration is 95 years after publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
Fair Use—Multiple Copies:
Myth: “Making copies of any copyrighted works is okay as long as the number of copies made does not exceed the number of students in the class.”
While part of this statement is true, there are other aspects of the law that are not as well known. The following is found in the guidelines of Section 107 on Fair Use:
1. Brevity—there are distinct guidelines of how much of a copyrighted work can be used. This includes the number of pages and/or words allowable based on the size of the whole document and the number of illustrations and charts per book or periodical.
2. Spontaneity—the guidelines for this include that the copying be initiated by the faculty member and falls within a reasonable period of time in which permission for use may not be received from the copyright holder in time.
Cumulative Effect—this includes guidelines such as use in one course only in the institution and limits on how many items can be distributed from a single publication.
4. Prohibitions—this includes information on the creation of materials to replace existing copyrighted works, use of “consumable” works such as lab books, repetition by a single instructor from semester to semester and how much students can be charged.
All copies should contain a notice of copyright. A generic example of a copyright statement is:
Notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (title 17, United States Code.)
It is also acceptable to photocopy the title page and verso of the book from which the material is taken to be included with all copies made.
For student coursework it is advisable to instruct the students to always include the copyright symbol (©), their name and the date of origination on all essays, reports, reviews, etc. An example of this would be:
Obtaining Permission:
It is important to request permission to use copyrighted materials in class except in cases of spontaneity*. As has been shown any time you wish to create a coursepack (print or electronic), utilize reserves (paper and electronic), distribute photocopies that are part of the syllabus or use photocopied materials in subsequent semesters that would normally have fallen under Fair Use, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder.
Generally the publisher is the copyright holder. If it is not obvious who owns the copyright, the Copyright Office can conduct a search as long as the material has been registered with the office. In the case when the author is deceased, the executor should be contacted.
It is also possible to use a service such as the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to request permission. The CCC manages the rights to over 1.75 million works and represents more than 9,600 publishers and hundreds of thousands of authors and other creators.
*Please see previous section on Fair Use—Multiple Copies for definition of “spontaneity.”
Useful Internet Sites:
Copyright Office
Copyright Clearance Center
The Campus Guide to Copyright Compliance
Permission Request Form
Copyright Office Circulars and Factsheets
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