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Contact: |
Copyright Coach |
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718-951-5628 |
Table of Contents:
 Copyright & Fair Use
Copyright Clearance Guidelines
Instructional Activities Guidelines
Music & Media Guidelines
Research & Publishing Activities Guidelines
Fair Use allows educators greater freedom in using copyrighted materials.
Copyright is held for a limited time so that copyrighted works do, in time, come into the public domain. Title 17 of the United States Code, the United States Copyright Act, also places limitations on the exclusive rights to copyrighted material during the time the material is covered by copyright. One important limitation is commonly known as the Fair Use Exemption in the Copyright Act.
The fair use exemption states that fair use is the use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords . . . . for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research.
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It is up to you to determine if the material to be used falls within Fair Use.
To determine this, you must consider these four factors:
- the purpose of the use of the copyrighted work,
- the nature of the copyrighted work,
- the amount of the copyrighted work to be used, and
- the effect of reproduction on the sale of the copyrighted work.
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There exist situations where the Fair Use Exemption does not apply.
You are responsible for obtaining copyright permission for any use of materials that does not comply with the fair use exemption, or any other exemption provided by the Copyright Act. Recognizing when you will need to obtain copyright permission often depends on the nature of the material being used and the length of time you will be making the copyrighted material available.
For example, the fair use exemption does not allow for the reproduction of large portions of a work or for making it available for a long period of time, because this can affect the sale of the work (the third and fourth factors of the fair use exemption).
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It is imperative that you include a copyright notice and citation with all materials you use.
When you copy print materials, please be sure to include all source information. For your convenience, you may use the standardized Print Source Cover Page from the Brooklyn College Library and Academic Information Technologies as a cover page.
When you duplicate/present material electronically, you will be instructed by the software you are using to include appropriate copyright notice and citation information. The copyright notice will be embedded into the document/presentation produced.
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Obtaining copyright clearance requires you to follow certain steps.
- Identify the copyright owner(s).
- Beware, especially with music and media, multiple parties may hold the rights and each party must be accounted for when obtaining permission.
- Remember, the absence of a copyright notice does not mean that the work is in the public domain.
- Contact the copyright owner(s) & secure permission.
- Contact the owner directly; or
- Use a collective rights organization such as the Copyright Clearance Center <http://www.copyright.com/>. A collective rights organization may be the only way to get permission in some cases.
TIPS:
- You may save on fees if you contact a copyright owner directly.
- Request permission only for the portion of the work you need.
- Fees are often based on how many copies will be needed and the length of time copies will be in use.
Here's a great site where you will find samples of permission letters:
http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/_permitintro.htm.
- Keep a detailed record of your quest for obtaining permission.
- For more information, see:
- Contact the Copyright Coach: AskCopyright@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
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Continuous use of material may require copyright clearance.
A key aspect in determining whether or not you can claim fair use of many types of material is tied to the issue of continuous use of that material. For materials listed in this category, be aware that these materials:
- do not require copyright clearance for the first semester of use by a class
- require copyright clearance for continuous use in the semesters immediately following the first semester of use
- must be password and electronic-duplication protected if digital
Additionally, reproductions of materials from licensed databases, such as Lexis-Nexis, are subject to individual contracts. Send questions about individual database contracts to askcopyright@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
Materials covered by these guidelines include:
- Reproductions of short works
- Reproductions of excerpts from longer works. Although the U. S. copyright law does not specify the length of excerpts allowed, common practice among many institutions of higher education including Brooklyn College is to limit excerpts to not more than 10% of the entirety whether in printed or electronic format.
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Hyperlinking does not require copyright clearance.
The following materials do not require copyright clearance for any semester of use:
- Hyperlinks to all copyrighted material available on the Internet. (See additional information about gaining off-campus access to links and information about deep linking.)
- Hyperlinks to public domain material on the Internet or reproductions of any public domain material such as most government documents. (For more information about using public domain material, see http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/).
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Sometimes copyright clearance is always required.
The following materials require copyright clearance for all semesters, including the first semester, of use:
- Reproductions of any digital copyrighted material that is not password and electronic-duplication protected. See additional information about password/duplication protection.
- Reproductions of entire long works whether in printed or electronic form.
- Reproductions of multiple parts from longer works. Although the U. S. copyright law does not specify the quantity of multiple parts allowed, common practice among many institutions of higher education including Brooklyn College is to limit parts to not more than 10% of the entirety whether in printed or electronic format.
- Reproductions of works as a collection that could serve as a substitute for a published anthology of works by separate authors or a published collection of works by a single author. See additional information about course packs.
- Reproductions of workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and test booklets and other published consumable material.
- Reproductions of materials from sources under license or contract.
- Reproductions of materials from course cartridges.
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The MLA provides fair use guidelines for faculty and students using music and non-print media.
These are guidelines for use of copyright material that have been created, approved, or accepted by the MLA or ALA:
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Copyright for research activities is different from copyright for teaching activities.
Fair Use is interpreted more narrowly in the publishing community than it is in the classroom. Publishers provide copyright guideline for their authors that you may consult. Here is a useful chart for determining what works can be used in your publications without requiring permission: http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/
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Last Modified: 2009-11-13 12:15:00
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