Copyright Assistance

Copyright Overview

The United States Copyright Office defines traditional copyright as "a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of 'original works of authorship,' including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works" ¹. Unless you own the exclusive copyright to an item you are not permitted to make copies of, create derivative works from, or distribute the item to others—unless you pay for that permission. The original idea behind copyright is that by ensuring monetary reward, authors and creators will continue to innovate and share ideas.

For the purpose of education (teaching, scholarship, and research) there is a Fair Use clause of copyright that allows for making and distributing copies of traditionally copyrighted materials without seeking permission from the copyright holder. In order for items to fit under Fair Use, please reflect on:

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes—educational use often falls under Fair Use, while for-profit use never does.
The nature of the copyrighted work—meaning, is the work a non-copyrightable fact or a very copyrightable creative work?
The amount of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole—less is better. Fair use takes into account the brevity of the portion of the work. See Scenario #4 for more details, but in short:
- 10% of any book with ten or fewer chapters is OK to use, or;
- A single chapter of any book with ten or more chapters is OK to use.
The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work—by sharing the item, are you robbing the author/creator of profits?

Items with Creative Commons copyright licenses provide more flexibility regarding their use. There are excellent sources of open source and Creative Commons-licensed educational resources on the Internet; visit our Online Videos & Podcasts page to learn about a few.

For a great overview of copyright, please view the Copyright Basics video covering the basics of copyright, distributed by the Copyright Clearance Center.

Copyright Scenarios

Scenario #1: Strict Copyright Policies: Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Publishing has a strict copyright policy that prohibits using material from any of their publications (articles, case studies) accessible through academic databases (e.g. EBSCO MegaFILE) as assigned course material. This ban includes articles from the Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Publishing also restricts linking to their articles through Blackboard and Engage. Should you wish to do any of the above, you will need to contact Harvard Business Publishing for rates and permission. These copyright restrictions are included at the end of all HBR articles; please refer to their copyright statement for more information (included below). A good rule of thumb to follow before linking to or requiring the reading of any journal article is to check each individual publisher's copyright statement, usually available at the end of each journal article.

Harvard Business Review Notice of Use Restrictions, May 2009. Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Publishing Newsletter content on EBSCOhost is licensed for the private individual use of authorized EBSCOhost users. It is not intended for use as assigned course material in academic institutions nor as corporate learning or training materials in businesses. Academic licensees may not use this content in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any other means of incorporating the content into course resources. Business licensees may not host this content on learning management systems or use persistent linking or other means to incorporate the content into learning management systems. Harvard Business Publishing will be pleased to grant permission to make this content available through such means. For rates and permission, contact permissions@harvardbusiness.org.

The following statement appears on syllabi including assigned course material published by Harvard Business Publishing.

Harvard Business Review Articles and Cases
Harvard Business Review (HBR) policy states faculty may not assign reading from, or direct students to, specific HBR articles or cases using library database access. Faculty who wish to assign HBR cases and articles as required readings should work with the bookstore to create course packs that students would then purchase in order to comply with copyright restrictions. For additional information contact the library.

Scenario #2: Including Internet images in PowerPoint presentations
The Copyright Act allows for display of images in the classroom without infringing on copyright as long as each image source is attributed. Should the instructor wish to post the PowerPoint to Blackboard/Engage or use the PowerPoint semester after semester, the instructor needs to check the copyright restrictions of each image. Verify that the images may be legally downloaded, used for non-profit, educational purposes, and that use of the image fits under the fair use doctrine of the Copyright Act (librarians will assist you with this). Written permission from the copyright holder for repeated showings of the image may need to be obtained.
To locate images with education-friendly copyright restrictions, please visit our Images page.

Scenario #3: Sharing video & audio clips through Blackboard/Engage
Curious if you can legally share video clips or podcasts with your students through Blackboard/Engage? The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act) allows for instructors to electronically share "reasonable and limited portions" of almost any type of work-including video and audio clips. This Act does not authorize an electronic media free-for-all, however. All media shared must be legally-made copies. (Use the Fair Use Checklist created by the Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office to determine if you can share material without obtaining copyright permission.)
Instructors and students must be made aware of and held responsible to abide by all copyright restrictions on the digital files. These restrictions include only showing materials directly related to class content, not retaining copies of the materials after the course has ended, and avoiding unauthorized distribution of the materials. Remember, digital resources have the same copyright protection as do tangible, physical resources. Please contact the Director of Instructional Technology Bob Andersen for more information about including media in your blended delivery courses.

Scenario #4: Copying and sharing a percentage of a book or journal issue (in print or electronically)
Educational fair use of a copyrighted work takes into account the brevity of the portion of the work copied and shared. The 2012 decision in the Georgia State University e-reserves copyright case created, in writing, a strict standard for the amount of a work that may be shared under fair use: 10% of any book with ten or fewer chapters, or a single chapter of any book with ten or more chapters². Assigned textbooks are included as a permissible type of material to excerpt. The faculty member or Twin Cities Library must own a copy of the entire book in order to share a portion of it with students; books obtained through interlibrary loan may not be posted online.
While the Georgia State University ruling did not specifically address electronic journal articles, the consensus among the academic community is that sharing one journal article from a single issue is permissible. The faculty member must own a copy of the article in order to share it with students; articles obtained through interlibrary loan may not be posted online.
You in good faith need to decide if the amount of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole is small enough to be permissibly and fairly used without obtaining copyright permission. (Use the Fair Use Checklist created by the Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office to determine if you can share material without obtaining copyright permission.)
All uploaded material needs to have a copyright statement included as the first page.

Linking to Articles in Blackboard/Engage

Linking to journal articles in Blackboard/Engage is an easy method of abiding by publishers' copyright restrictions. Click here to learn how to and why you should link to articles in Blackboard/Engage instead of handing out or emailing copies of articles to students.

Coursepacks

Coursepacks are copyright-protected collections of materials (articles, book chapters, case studies, course notes, instructor's own works) assembled by instructors, bound by third-parties, and then purchased by students. Coursepacks are practical when instructors want to assign articles with strict copyright restrictions (see HBR articles), materials not readily available through the Twin Cities Library, or excerpts from multiple books.

The Twin Cities Campus Bookstore will assist with coursepack creation, obtain permission to use copyrighted works, give a cost estimate for an individual course pack, and make available the coursepacks to students. Faculty should bring materials to the bookstore two months before the coursepack is needed by students. Instructors must seek copyright permission on coursepack materials every semester. Contact the Twin Cities Campus Bookstore at 612.728.5170 for more information.

1. United States Copyright Office. (July 2008). Copyright basics. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf
2. Smith, K. (2012, May 12). The GSU decision—not an easy road for anyone [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://blogs.library.duke.edu/scholcomm/2012/05/12/the-gsu-decision-not-an-easy-road-for-anyone/