Copyright Policy

U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) prohibits the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of copyrighted materials, except as permitted by the principle of “fair use.” Students may not copy or distribute electronic materials (including electronic mail, text, images, programs, and data) without the explicit permission of the copyright holder, except as permitted by the principle of “fair use.” Any responsibility for the consequences of copyright infringement lies with the user.

To assist students in making informed decisions regarding copyright law, the following information is provided:

Music

The Copyright Revision Act of 1976 made significant changes in the copyright law of the United States as it relates to universities and other educational institutions. Among these are changes relating to the performance of copyrighted music on the campus that are of special importance to music faculty, as well as to others who have responsibility for musical performances on campus by University groups or by persons brought in for this purpose. A general licensing agreement that the University has entered into, however, largely covers these aspects of the law.

Videotape

• A television program may not be recorded at home and used at school. Home taping must be for home use only.
• A videotape rented from a video store and marked for “Home Use Only” may not be shown at school.
• A videotape that the University has purchased may be used only for face-to-face instruction by an individual teacher, not for entertainment, unless a public performance license has been obtained.
• Off-air recordings made on the University campus from programs that are provided to the general public at no charge are permissible only under specific limitations, including:
  
  1. The program must be at the specific request of an individual teacher or teachers and is not to be used by others.
  2. The recording can be shown to students, within ten class days after the broadcast date, no more than two times, the second showing being only for instructional reinforcement. 
  3. The videotape must be destroyed within forty-five calendar days after the broadcast date. Any use of the recording after the ten consecutive class days and prior to the end of the forty-five calendar days may be only for teacher evaluation purposes.
• No off-air recording may be stored permanently unless the University purchases a license for the videotape from the copyright holder.

Photocopying

Although all students should adhere to copyright law, students that are serving as teaching assistants and students that are involved in teaching internships should be especially careful when photocopying copyrighted materials. Listed below is a summary of some of the most important implications of the law:

Do Not:

• Make multiple copies of a work for classroom use if it has already been copied for another class in the same institution
• Make multiple copies of a short poem, article, or essay from the same author more than once in a class term, or make multiple copies from the same collective work or periodical issue more than three times a term.
• Make multiple copies of works more than nine times in the same class term.
• Make a copy of works to take the place of an anthology.
• Make a copy of “consumable” materials, such as workbooks.

You Are Allowed To:

• Make a single copy, for use in scholarly research, or in teaching, or in preparation for teaching a class, of the following:
  
  1. A chapter from a book.
  2. An article from a periodical or newspaper.
  3. A short story, short essay, or short poem, whether or not from a collected work.
  4. A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.
      
• Make multiple copies for classroom use only, and not to exceed one per student in a class, of the following:
  
  1. A complete poem, if it is less than 250 words and printed on not more than two pages.
  2. An excerpt from a longer poem, if it is less than 250 words.
  3. A complete article, story, or essay, if it is less than 2,500 words.
  4. An excerpt from a prose work, if it is less than 1,000 words or 10 percent of the work, whichever is less.
  5. One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture per book or periodical.