Copyright Basics
All course materials online are protected under the Copyright
Laws of the United States (Title 17 U.S. Code) governing the
making of photocopies of copyrighted material. Under the terms of
the TEACH Act,
2002, (Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization)
faculty can be named in copyright litigation. This
law also clarifies how faculty can limit their liability
in the use of copyrighted material.
NEED HELP WITH COPYRIGHT ISSUES?
Contact MU's DMCA Representative:
Dr. Monica Brooks, MU Online Director, x6474
2008-09 Copyright Training Schedule:
All faculty, staff, TA/GA students, are invited to attend any of the following copyright seminars designed to keep us abreast of Title 17 copyright law and the application of fair use guidelines to the higher education environment. If you are using any kind of A/V and electronic curriculum support materials in a traditional or online classroom, we can help provide some tools to aid you in making informed copyright use decisions. No RSVP is needed; just join us!
Location: Drinko Library Presentation Room 349
2008
- August 29:
- 9:30 – 10:30 (Will also be presented via polycom in AC 210 at MUGC)
- 1:00 – 2:00
- September 4:
- 9:30 – 10:30
- 2:30 – 3:30 (Will also be presented via polycom in AC 210 at MUGC)
- October 14:
- 9:00 – 10:00
- 2:30 – 3:30 (Will also be presented via polycom in AC 210 at MUGC)
- November 12:
- 11:00 – 12:00 (Will also be presented via polycom in AC 210 at MUGC)
- 4:00 – 5:00
2009
- February 10:
- 10:00 – 11:00
- 1:00 – 2:00
- March 11:
HOW DOES COPYRIGHT LAW AFFECT ME?
Faculty need to take copyright law very seriously when designing
online or traditional courses at Marshall University. It used to be
that a faculty member could claim ignorance and avoid being fined
despite a copyright violation. That is no longer true. When it comes
to copyright law, faculty and staff may be personally
liable for fines or criminal charges.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. If you don't know that you are
infringing, you still will be liable for damages - only the amount
of the award will be affected.
Copyright owners have the right to sue for damages for information
or intellectual property of theirs that is used without their
permission. The penalties for infringement
are very harsh; the court can award up to $150,000 for
each separate act of willful infringement. (Willful infringement
means that you knew you were infringing and you did it anyway.)
Please note that the individual who takes an allegedly infringing
action is not necessarily protected from a lawsuit if Marshall
University is sued under the Copyright Law.
More On Copyright Issues
There is one special provision of the law that allows a court to
withhold damages even if the copying at issue was not a fair use. It
is called the
good faith fair use defense
[17 USC 504(c)(2)]. This defense applies if the person who copied
material reasonably believed that what he or she did was a fair use
- as would likely be the case if you followed the guidelines below.
If you qualify for this defense, it makes you a very poor prospect
for a lawsuit.
If you disregard the sound advice about fair use specified here, a
court would be free to award the highest level of damages available.
Fair Use Rules of Thumb
| Limit
reserve or online course materials to: |
- Single articles or
chapters; several charts, graphs or illustrations; or other
small parts
of a work
- A small part of the materials
required for the course
- Copies of materials that you or
the library already possesses legally
(i.e., by purchase,
license, interlibrary loan, etc.)
|
|
Include: |
| - Any copyright notice on
the original
- Appropriate citations and
attributions to the source
- A
Section 108(f)(1) notice. |
| Time
Limit: |
| Limit access to students
enrolled in the class. Terminate access at the end of the
class term. Please note that this means you may use
copyrighted material for a class one time. |
|
Permissions: |
|
Get permission for materials that you will
use repeatedly for the same class. If you send out a
legitimate request for permission and do not receive a
response, you can use the material in question without
violating copyright law. Just be sure that you can document
you made the request. |
Below is a list of very helpful sites which offer useful and
relevant information on copyright law.
Copyright@Marshall University
A complete depository of information related to copyright law and how it applies
at Marshall University.
Fair Use Basics
How to use copyrighted material appropriately and legally in teaching-from
Kansas State U. Copyright
QuickGuide
A clearly written statement from the Copyright Management Center, Indiana-Purdue
U.
Copyright Ownership Tutorial
From the University of Texas
Common Questions. Direct Answers
Common sense answers to copyright questions on software, video, the Internet,
and on infringements.
TEACH Act
Enacted by Congress in Fall 2002, this new law fully revises
Section 110(2) of the U.S. Copyright Act governing the lawful uses of
existing copyrighted materials in distance education. The law specifies the
terms under which instructors can clip pieces of text, images, sound, and
other works and include them in distance education.
TEACH Act Compliance
Checklist
Includes a checklist you can fill out to determine if you are in compliance
with copyright law.
TEACH Act Copyright Crash Course
Helpful information on how to understand the TEACH Act and apply it.
Teach ToolKit from NC State University
Contains excellent information on the TEACH Act and how to use it.
What is new in the TEACH Act?
A common sense explanation from the University of Washington.
Whose FINE is it Anyway?
Prepared by David Johnson, Executive Dir. Distributed Education Technology,
July 7, 2004 |
