Frequently Asked Questions about Copyright and Fair Use

 

How do I know whether or not I need to get permission to copy a text?

If reproduction of the text meets the criteria for fair use, then you do not have to get permission to use it.  If it does not meet the criteria for fair use, then you do.  The College has developed guidelines to help determine whether or not a particular use of an article, book, or literary work is fair.  There will inevitably be some ambiguous cases--in those circumstances the safest course of action is to get permission. 

Do the same rules apply in eCollege as in making copies?

Yes.  The same guidelines apply to making multiple copies for classroom use, scanning and posting items on eCollege, book store coursepacks, library reserves, and any other cases in which access to the material is limited to students in your class--if it is fair use you can do it, if it is not you must get copyright permission.

The College guidelines say it may be fair use to copy "a few pages."  How many is a few?

There are not precise legal standards for what constitutes an acceptable amount.  The publishing industry has set standards for what they consider acceptable (2500 words or about five pages for a whole article; 1000 words or about two pages for an excerpt from an article or book) which may be used as guidelines, but they are not legally binding.  The amount used is only one of the four factors of fair use, and can only be judged in combination with the others.  In cases where the other criteria for fair use are clearly met it may be acceptable to use more than these amounts; in cases where the other criteria are not met it may not be acceptable to use even these small amounts.

If I gave copies of this to my class last year, can I do it again this year?

This is a somewhat controversial issue in copyright law.  Some publishers claim that you should get permission for any repeat use, while legal scholars point out that if a use is fair, it is logically fair no matter how many times you repeat it.

A common sense compromise is to say that what clearly meets all of the criteria for fair use is acceptable for repeat use, while uses that are more ambiguous should be carefully reviewed.  In other words, one time versus repeat use can be viewed as a sort of tie breaker in making a fair use determination.  Therefore, if a use is somewhat ambiguous in the first place, you should request copyright permission if you plan to use it again in subsequent classes.

Why does it matter whether or not the library owns the item I want to copy?

Because by definition the library buys resources for academic use by the whole Saint Michael’s community.  (In fact, the library’s subscriptions to journals frequently cost more than individual subscriptions, and the library buys more expensive editions of books.)  While this does not mean that library materials can be copied without restrictions, the fact that the library has paid for use of a book or journal does allow broader use of these than of items owned by an individual faculty member.  If you want to copy or scan something, check to see if the library has it, and if not, contact your library liaison or the collection development librarian to see about buying it.

If something is out of print, do I need to get permission anyway?

Even if a work is out of print, it is still probably copyrighted if it was written after 1923.  The same general rules apply to out of print works as those in print.  If the copying or scanning meets the criteria for fair use then you can do so without permission;  if it does not then you must obtain Copyright Permission.

How do I get copyright permission?  When do I need to do it?  Who pays for it?

Saint Michael's College has a process through which you can obtain Copyright Permission through an account with the Copyright Clearance Center. 

Who is responsible for making sure faculty obey copyright laws?

Since it is individual faculty members who make determinations regarding fair use in copying or scanning materials for their classes, the responsibility to abide by fair use or get permission also rests with them.  Campus offices such as the Library and Instructional Technology can give advice on particular copyright questions, but in the end, it is the faculty member who makes the decision.

What could happen if a faculty member violated copyright laws?

By law, a copyright holder could sue for up to $150,000 per infraction.  This is unlikely but not impossible.  Were this the case, the strongest defense would be good faith--proving that you weighed the factors and genuinely considered the copying to be an instance of fair use. 

For more information see:

SMC Copyright Resources