A BRIEF COPYRIGHT GUIDE FOR KUMC EDUCATORS

By Bob Pisciotta

Archie Dykes Library

This document is abbreviated from a Copyright Guide for KUMC Educators. It is not a policy statement. It is a summary and explanation of existing copyright law and regulations emphasizing matters of importance for KUMC teachers and scholars.

Copyright is a legal right which is granted to creators of intellectual property. It secures for a limited time to authors, the exclusive rights to their creations. These rights include reproduction, adaptation, performance, and distribution of a copyrighted work.

PERSONAL COPIES

Works protected by copyright may be used for educational, research or scholarly purposes either with the permission of the copyright owner, or through the Fair Use provisions of the copyright law. As a state-supported, non-profit, educational institution, KUMC faculty and staff generally have clear-cut Fair Use rights to reproduce copies of materials for personal use-as long as the copier is mindful of the following four factors:

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

The bottom line on Fair Use for personal copies: as long as your copying activities reflect your work for KUMC, and the total amount copied is not substantial in relation to the entire work (a journal article or a chapter from a book--none of which should exceed some reasonable portion of the entire piece) you are living within the Fair Use provisions of the law as they relate to individual educators.

For a fuller discussion on Fair Use, see the main Copyright Guide for KUMC Educators.

CLASSROOM USE OF COPYRIGHTED PRINT MATERIALS

Works protected by copyright may be used for teaching purposes either with the permission of the copyright owner, or through the Fair Use provisions of the copyright law. As a state-supported, non-profit, educational institution, KUMC faculty generally have clear-cut Fair Use rights to reproduce copies of materials for the classroom. Multiple copying of copyrighted materials for classroom use is permissible when:

  1. The tests for brevity and spontaneity are met (both are defined in Ad Hoc Congressional Committee Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-for-Profit Eduational Institutions with Respect to Books and Periodicals). The spontaneity test also means that after the first spontaneous use of a copyrighted item, permission must be secured for subsequent classroom uses;
  2. The test for cumulative effect is met (also defined in the Agreement);
  3. A copyright notice appears on the distributed materials. Here's a notice you might consider using on your copyrighted classroom materials:

    NOTICE: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, United States Code)

  4. Consumable materials are not copied and distributed;
  5. Teachers are not substituting the purchase of copyrighted materials with photocopies distributed in class; and
  6. Students pay no more than the actual cost of copies.

The Library may also act on your behalf in providing copyrighted classroom materials to your students through our Reserve service. Further information is contained in the main Copyright Guide for KUMC Educators.

The bottom line on Fair Use for classroom materials: As long as you are using a small amount of copyrighted material (no more than two articles from one journal issue, for example), not distributing photocopied consumable materials, and displaying a copyright notice on the materials copied, you have fair use rights to distribute copyrighted materials to your students (either directly in class or through the Library's reserve desk). Subsequent uses of the same material would require permission of the copyright owner.

COPYRIGHT AND THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

The Fair Use rights that govern an educator's classroom use of materials extend to distance education and the Virtual Classroom as well. The same standards for brevity and spontaneity hold sway. Second uses of copyrighted materials in a classroom setting, generally require permission from the copyright owner. Copyright notices must appear on all protected materials which appear in the Virtual Classroom. To protect market prospects for materials in the Virtual Classroom, access restrictions will be imposed. These restrictions will either entail password access (provide login and password instructions for your students) or IP address restrictions (only KUMC IP addresses are permitted access to reserve readings). Additional information is available in the attached Virtual Classroom Copyright Policy.

For further coyrighted-related information see: 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained by Brad Templeton.

Please direct questions or comments to: Bob Pisciotta (bpisciot@kumc.edu), or phone me at (913) 588-7311.