Copyright: For the Classroom

Many educational uses of copyright-protected materials are covered by fair use. There are no definite rules about when fair use overrides copyright laws. Each claim for fair use should be considered individually based on these four factors:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

These resource can help you think through if fair use applies to your particularly case:

• Fair Use Checklist 

  Use this checklist tool to help you decide if your use of copyright material that a good case for being allowable under the fair use doctrine. Provided by Columbia University Library
• Know Your Copyrights

  This brochure for faculty and teaching assistants covers a variety of copyright topics including: fair use, the advantage of linking to instead of copying works, and special provisions for displaying or performing works in classes. Created by the Association of Research Libraries.
• Fair Use and Course Management Systems: Common Scenarios

  These scenarios give advice about how to handle common examples of the application of fair use when instructors post materials on course management systems. Created by the Claremont Colleges Copyright Office

Fair use may cover photocopying or digitizing materials for yourself and your students in the context of in-person or distance instruction.

Photocopying

The U.S. Copyright Office gives some additional guidance about photocopying copyrighted materials in the “Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians” Circular 21. The guidelines allow you as a faculty member or instructor in a not-for-profit educational institution to make a single copy of a book chapter, journal, or newspaper article, short essay, story or poem, or a chart, graph, diagram, drawing or picture from a work. The single copy is to be used by you for your research, use in teaching, or preparation for teaching a class. If you need to make multiple copies for your class, consider the following guidelines:

• Brevity: a short work or section of a work
• Spontaneity: the copying is requested by the individual teacher and the decision to use the work is so close to the effective use in teaching that there is no time to seek permission.
• Cumulative effect:
  • (1) the copying is only for one course in the school;
  • (2) not more than one short work or excerpts can be used from the same author and no more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume PER TERM;
  • (3) no more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one class during one term;
  • (4) newspaper articles and news sections of journals are exempted from the last two requirements.
• A copyright notice appears on the copy so that the students realize the work is protected under copyright law.
• The copying should not replace a textbook, anthology, or purchase of books, reprints or journals.
• Consumable works, such as workbooks, exercises, and study guides, may not be reproduced.
• Copying of the same item by the same teacher should probably not be repeated over several years, though this is NOT stipulated by the copyright law.
• If you ask your students to pay for copies, the fee cannot be higher than the actual cost of copying the materials.

Digitizing

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002 provides additional rights to address the need to use copyrighted materials in distance education courses. This act allows instructors to digitally share materials that would reasonably be shared in a normal class setting.

It also allows analog versions (paper, film, and video) to be converted to digital formats IF:

• A digital version is not available for purchase or lease
• The available digital version has technological measures that protect it from being used under the provisions of the TEACH Act.

For shared materials, the follow criteria must be met:

• The use of materials has to be under the direct supervision of the teacher.
• It has to be a part of the class session and not something to be viewed before or after the class session; it must be part of a mediated instructional activity.
• The material must be directly related to and of importance to the teaching of the content.
• Transmission of the materials must be directly sent to and limited to the students in the class.
• Technological measures must be taken to ensure the material is not accessible beyond the class session and cannot be further disseminated.
• There is no tampering with the copyright holder's technological measures for preventing retention and redistribution.

The following resources can help you better understand the TEACH Act and your rights to reproduce copyrighted materials as an instructor:

• Circular 21: Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians

  This circular from the U.S. Copyright Office offers general guidelines for how copyrighted materials can be reproduced in an educational setting. Remember, these are "best practices" may not fit every situation; therefore, it is advised that you conduct a fair use analysis for any copyrighted materials you distribute to your students.

• TEACH Act Flow Chart

  This flow chart was developed by the Duke Scholarly Communications Office to guide decisions about when it is acceptable to digitize material for inclusion in a course management system. Note that it assumes that the material will only be available to registered students in a class and should not be relied upon outside of that narrow purpose.