|
If you buy a piece of land and build a house on it, you would be outraged if people walked over your property and took over your house, making themselves at home. You would undoubtedly object if people took things from your desk or locker or book bag at school. Intellectual property is no different. Its owners--writers, artists, scholars, musicians, and companies connected with them, such as publishers, producers, and distributors wish to make a profit from their labors, and the federal government, almost from its inception, has offered protection in the form of copyright, patent, and later, trademark laws. Once something is copyrighted, the author has the exclusive right to do and authorize the following: 1) to reproduce the work, 2) to prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work, 3) to distribute copies to the public by sale, rental, lease, or lending, 4) to perform the work (in case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, motion pictures and other kinds of audiovisual works, and 5) to display literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pantomimes, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, motion pictures, or other audiovisual works. Copyrighters have exclusive rights.
This law would stop much teaching and learning from occurring were it not tempered by the sweet reason of the fair use guidelines. The guidelines were a compromise hammered out by the Congress, and agreed to by copyright holders and members of the educational profession. The compromise means that educators and students have certain special rights to the use of partial bits of protected, copyrighted materials without asking. The educational community is a special case. In order to keep these exceptions, the community must adhere to the guidelines. The vast group of lawyers who protect intellectual property would be only too happy to see educational guidelines disappear forever. They are not shy to bring suits involving schools, teachers, and even students, and penalties can be very punitive.
Therefore, for reasons of fairness and respect for the law, the policy of the school is that copyright fair use guidelines must be adhered to by the Bryn Mawr community--administrators, staff, faculty, and students. Computer software and leased electronic materials are covered by purchase or lease agreements, which shall be honored. Trademarks and patents are recognized as special forms of intellectual property not covered by fair use. Therefore, permission in writing must be obtained, should a trademark or patented entity be used by any member of the Bryn Mawr community.
* The Checklist for Fair Use was devised by Indiana University's Copyright Management Center to help people make reasoned decisions.
Bryn Mawr School Copyright Policy
It is the intent of the Bryn Mawr School to adhere to the provisions of the U.S. 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 faculty, students, and staff.
A manual is provided to faculty that offers guidelines for anyone in the school who wishes to reproduce, alter, or perform works that are protected by copyright. Since copyright protection applies to a variety of creative works---printed materials, sound recordings, video recordings, visual artworks, multimedia productions, computer software, and Internet electronic materials-the manual addresses each in order.
The full text of the law, with some legislative history, analysis, and commentary, is available in the Edith Hamilton Library. The Librarian and/or the Technology Dept. Head can advise on specific questions.
The Bryn Mawr School offers annually an introduction to copyright for faculty and students. A website that includes material covered in the course is available online at all times. Employees of the school or students who violate copyright law do so at their own risk and assume all liability for their actions.
Guidelines for Fair Use: (Excerpted from Circular 21: Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians. Washington, D. C. : United States Copyright Office., 199-)
I. Printed Materials:
Single Copying for Teachers:
A chapter from a book;
An article from a periodical or newspaper;
A short story, short essay, or short poem, whether or not from a collective work;
A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper [or web page image];
Multiple Copies for Classroom Use
Multiple copies (not to exceed in any event more than one copy per pupil in a course) may be made by or for a teacher giving the course for classroom use or discussion; provided that:
The copying meets the tests of brevity and spontaneity as defined below; and
Meets the cumulative effect test as defined below; and,
Each copy meets the cumulative effect test as defined below; and,
Each copy includes a notice of copyright. [Stamps located at copy machines]
Definitions
Poetry: A complete poem if less that 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages or from a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words.
Prose: Either a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or
an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, but in any event a minimum of 500 words.
[Each of the numerical limits stated for Poetry and Prose above may be expanded to permit the completion of an unfinished line of a poem or of an unfinished prose paragraph.]
Illustrations: One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue; [no more than 5 images of an artist/photographer in one program or printing and not more than 10% or 15% of images from published collective work, whichever is less.
Special Works: Certain works in poetry, prose or in 'poetic prose' which often combine language with illustrations and which are intended sometimes for children and at other times for a more general audience fall short of 2,500 words in their entirety. Such 'special works' may not be reproduced in their entirety; however an excerpt comprising not more than two of the published pages of such special work and containing not more than 10% of the words found in the text thereof, may be reproduced.
Spontaneity - The copying is at the instance and inspiration of the individual teacher, and the inspiration and decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission.
Cumulative Effect - The copying of the material is for only one course in the school in which the copies are made.
Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, not more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term.
There shall not be more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term.
[The limitations stated above shall not apply to current news periodicals and newspapers and current news sections of other periodicals.]
Prohibitions
Notwithstanding any of the above, the following shall be prohibited:
Copying shall not be used to create or to replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works. Such replacement or substitution may occur whether copies of various works or excerpts are accumulated or reproduced and used separately.
There shall be no copying of or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or of teaching. These include workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and test booklets and answer sheets.[Exception: a transparency may be made to teach or illustrate their use]-Excerpted from a legal ruling.
Copying shall not:
Substitute for the purchase of books, publishers' reprints or periodicals;
Be directed by higher authority;
Be repeated with respect to the same item by the same teacher from term to term.
No charge shall be made to the student beyond the actual cost of the photocopying.
[Permission may be obtained from the copyright holder to exceed the limitations of the Copyright Law. Copies of the written permission should be kept by the copier with the original] - Excerpted from a legal ruling.
II. Guidelines for Sound Recordings and Printed Music:
Music companies are VERY aggressive in protecting copyright. Many large fines have been leveled at individuals, schools, and churches. Fines can be levied for each illegal copy and for lost revenue.
Permissible Uses:
Emergency copying allows copies to be made to replace purchased copies which may not be available by performance time. However, copies must still be purchased.
Copying for academic use other than performance
Only one copy per student is allowed; no more than 10% of a work can ever be copied; single or multiple copying of a section can not comprise a performable unit like a section, movement, or aria.
[Exception: one has confirmation from the copyright holder(s) that the unit is out of print, or the unit is unavailable except in a larger work, or the copy is made for a teacher for the purpose of scholarly research or preparation for class.]
Printed copies which have been purchased may be edited or simplified provided
that the fundamental character of the work is not distorted, or the lyrics, if any, are
not distorted, and no lyrics are added.
A single copy of a student's performance can be make for purposes of evaluation
and rehearsal. This copy can be retained by the educational entity or the student.
A single copy of a sound recording, i.e., a tape, disc, record, or cassette, may be
made from the originals which are owned by the school or the teacher for the
purpose of constructing aural exercises or examinations and may be retained by the school or the individual teacher.
[Note: a sound recording may involve three copyrights: one for the music, a second for the recording, and a third on the arrangement. If the sound recording is to be used in a public performance or a derivative work will be made, permission must be granted by all copyright owners.]
Prohibitions:
Copying to create or replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collected works.
Copying of or from works intended to be 'consumable' in the course of study or of teaching such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and answer sheets and like material.
Copying for the purpose of substituting for the purchase of music.
Copying without inclusion of the copyright notice which appears on the printed copy.
III. Guidelines for Using Video Recordings and Off-Air Recording:
Note: There are two types of licenses for video materials, which are
Videos with public performance rights and videos for home performance only. There is virtually no problem with showing videos with public performance rights. But in order for a school to use a video without paying royalties for a public performance, all four of the following criteria:
The use must take place in a classroom or similar place of instruction.
The use must be part of the regular instructional process and not recreational.
The use must be in the course of face-to-face-teaching activities.
The video must be a lawfully made or acquired copy.
IV. Guidelines for Off-the-Air Recordings:
Guidelines apply only to non-profit educational institutions
Recording (audio or visual) may be retained for a period not to exceed 45 calendar days, after which it must be erased or destroyed.
Off-air recordings may be used once by individual teachers in the course of relevant teaching activities, and repeated once only when instructional reinforcement is necessary, in classrooms or other academic places during the first 10 days of the permissible 45 days of retention.
Recordings can be made and used by individual teachers. Any single program may only be recorded once, no matter how many times it is re-broadcast.
After the first 10 days, the copy may only be used for teacher evaluation purposes, i.e. to determine whether or not to include the broadcast program in the teaching curriculum.
Off-air recordings need not be used in their entirety, but the recorded programs may not be altered from their original content. They may not be physically or electronically combined or merged to constitute teaching anthologies or compilations.
Recordings must include the copyright notice on the broadcast program as recorded.
Educational institutions are expected to establish appropriate control procedures to maintain the integrity of these guidelines.
V. Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines
Multimedia projects may contain original material and formats which include but are not limited to text material, graphics, video, music, sound, photographs, and illustrations which are incorporated into a presentation.
Allowed Use:
Students may demonstrate and show their own educational multimedia projects for the course for which they were created and may use them in their own portfolios as examples of academic work.
Educators may demonstrate and show their own educational multimedia projects for face-to-face instruction, may assign them to students for directed self-study or use them at peer conferences and within professional portfolios.
Restrictions:
Time - Educators may use their projects for teaching purposes for two years. Use beyond that time period requires obtaining permission for each copyrighted portion.
Portion - Portions are generally specified "in the whole", meaning the total amount that can be used from a single copyrighted work
· Video - Up to 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less, from a single copyrighted work.
· Text material - Up to 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less, from a single copyrighted work. For poems, an entire poem of less that 250 words, but no more than three poems by one poet or 5 poems by different poets from a single anthology. In longer poems the 250-word limit still applies.
· Music, lyrics, and music videos - Up to 10%, but in no event more than 30 seconds of the music and lyrics from a single musical work
· Illustrations and photographs - No more than 5 images by an artist or photographer. From a published collective work, no more than 10% or 15 images.
· Data Sets - Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cell entries from a database or table.
Copying and Distribution
There may be no more than two copies, only one of which can be placed on reserve. An additional copy may be made for preservation (backup) purposes.
Required Permission
Students and educators must get individual permissions for all copyrighted works used in their educational multimedia projects for non-educational or commercial purposes, or duplication beyond guideline limitations.
Important Warnings:
· Exercise caution in using digital material downloaded from the Internet. Some copyrighted works cannot be reused without permission or royalty payments. Also, many websites contain material posted without authorization from the copyright holder.
· Credit the sources and display the copyright ownership information; this information may be shown in a credit section.
· A notice that "Certain materials are included under the fair use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and have been prepared according the educational multimedia fair use guidelines and are restricted from further use" must be included on the opening screen of the multimedia project and any accompanying print material.
· Alterations of copyrighted works must support specific instructional objectives. Make note that alterations have been made.
· Fair use guidelines do not preempt or supersede license agreements and contractual obligations. For example, bibliographic databases and software licenses are leased or purchased with accompanying licensing and/or contractual agreements.
VI. Use of Copyrighted Computer Programs (Software)
The owner of a computer program is allowed to make one copy or adaptation of the program for archival (backup) purposes.
VII. License Agreements
If a computer program or bibliographic database is licensed, refer to the license agreement for specifics. By installing or using a licensed product, one is legally bound by its license or purchase agreement. The user/institution must review the terms and conditions of license or purchase agreements, especially statements relating to permitted uses, prohibited uses, restrictions, and copying limitations
VIII. Trade Marks
Trade marks are not included in fair use guidelines. They are fiercely protected by property lawyers who are very aggressive in taking anyone to court. Do not use trademarks in your presentations without receiving legal permission to do so.
Last revised: July 28, 2004
