The copyright law of the United States guarantees to all creators of art and literature the intellectual property rights to reproduction, distribution, adaptation, performance, and display of protected work. Copyrighted works include literature, music, drama, dance and pantomime, pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, motion pictures and multimedia works, and all kinds of sound recordings. Computer software and databases are protected by both copyright and binding licenses. Almost everything on the Internet is subject to copyright laws.
In an attempt to balance the rights of copyright owners with the rights of students to be educated and teachers to teach, exceptions have been granted to educational institutions, and a set of guidelines for fair use has been established. All members of the Bryn Mawr community--faculty, administration, staff, and students--are expected to understand fair use guidelines and abide by their strictures. It is Bryn Mawr School policy to adhere to the provisions of the Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code, Sect. 101 et seq.), the congressional fair use guidelines, and contractual agreements with providers of resources and services to our community. The school supports compliance with the law by all its constituents.
A fairly detailed guide is provided on this website. It offers rules for anyone in the school who wishes to reproduce, alter, perform or display works that are protected by copyright. The full text of the law, with some legislative history, analysis, and commentary, is available in paper format in the Edith Hamilton Library. Electronically, that same information is included in the links below.
Questions concerning copyright may be addressed to the Library or the Technology Depts., whose representatives will direct you to relevant portions of the law, but no official legal advice can be offered. Employees of the school or students who violate copyright law do so at their own risk and assume all liabilities for their actions. In recent years, schools, non-profit groups, and churches as well as individual teachers and students have been sued and found guilty of copyright violations. Penalties can be extremely punitive.
Websites:
Copyright Law of the United States and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code
Also known as Circular 92; the law as it now stands
Copyright Law of the United States
A hypertext edition produced by the Legal Information Institute (LII). This version is searchable and subdivided by outlined chapters
Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians
Also known as Circular 21, this contains the guidelines for fair use of copyrighted materials
A Visit to Copyright Bay (University of St. Francis, Joliet, Ill.)
The major provisions of the fair use guidelines, taught in an entertaining way; presentation prepared by Janet Agnew, Glen Gummess, and Mike Hudson in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Educational Technology Leadership masters degree at George Washington University)
A Teacher's Guide to Fair Use and Copyright : Modeling Honesty and Resourcefulness, by Cathy Newsome, c1997.
An excellent statement of copyright and fair use. The one-page chart printed below is excerpted from this site. [[Permission is being sought for this inclusion]