Indiana University Policy on Fair Use of Copyrighted
Works for Education and Research
An excellent site for faculty, staff and librarians, outlining the University’s policy on copyright law and fair use. It basically states that if the faculty, staff, and librarians act in good faith, and follow the nine fair use principles laid out in the document, that the Indiana University indemnification policy will protect them if they are challenged. It also offers further information on why the project was developed and sources for further information.
· Fair
Use: Overview and Meaning for Higher Education, Kenneth D. Crews
A “user friendly” guide to Fair Use. Crews sums up the “Meaning of the Four Factors” of Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use. This is particularly useful, as the four factors are very vague, and do not give qualitative or quantitative information. The most interesting part of this document were the summaries of fair use cases. This helped make sense of the four factors.
· A
Fair-Use Case Study: Using Copyrighted Materials On The World Wide Web, Dwayne
K. Buttler
Using the four factors from the previous articles (purpose, nature, amount and effect), Buttler not only applies these factors to the case study, but explains how the factors work, and how they are sometimes misinterpreted. He also uses two different examples for each factor to further emphasize what can and can not be considered fair use. An article from Time magazine is used as an example in the case study. There is a link at the bottom of the page to Time Magazines Permissions and Reprints page. It is interesting to see the guidelines that the publishers have set.
· Fair
Use of Copyrighted Works: A Crucial Element in Educating America
This is a pamphlet published by California State University, the State University of New York , and the City University of New York to address the issue of fair use in higher education. Crews’ explanation of fair use (as seen above) is used. This pamphlet uses different scenarios that faculty and students in colleges and universities can relate to, such as electronic reserves and downloading and printing an article from the internet. It also offers suggestions on how to obtain permission, and provides a sample letter. This pamphlet encourages other higher education institutions to challenge the current fair use laws, and educate the community they serve. There are a number of useful links to sites such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the U.S. Copyright act.
· Copyright
Law & Graduate Research: New Media, New Rights, and Your New Dissertation,
Kenneth D. Crews.
Published by ProQuest (the parent company of UMI), this manual examines the “ins and outs” of copyright law, as it pertains to the graduate student writing their dissertation and their faculty advisor. It explains in simple terms the rights of authors, fair use, and how to determine whether the information you are using is considered fair use. This manual states that nearly 15 percent of all dissertations received by UMI for microfilming are lacking appropriate permission. Therefore, the author has included a section on how to ask for permission, along with a sample letter. Any graduate student beginning to write their dissertation, should be given this manual to read.
· Fair-Use
Checklist, Dwayne K. Buttler
This checklist is arranged by the four factors
(purpose, nature, amount, and effect) to make it easier for the author to
ensure that they are following all the rules of fair use. As with the manual published by
ProQuest, this document should be used by any graduate student writing their
dissertation.
· Fair
Use Guidelines for Electronic Reserve Systems
With the popularity of electronic access to educational materials, this document offers guidelines for libraries to follow when processing electronic reserves. It covers everything from the amount of information allowed to be put on reserve, the presence of copyright laws, how it may be accessed, and whether it may be reused.
· Electronic
Reserves Clearinghouse, Jeff Rosedale
This page offers useful links to a wide variety of copyright related sites.
·
ACRL Electronic Reserves
Discussion Group and Current Events
·
ARL SPEC Kit on
Electronic Reserves
·
Vendors and Products
(Adobe, OCLC, Sirsi, etc.)
·
Compilations, Faculty
Projects, Miscellaneous Links
·
Course Reserves Sites
(from higher education institutions around the world)
·
Forms related to Course
Reserves (from higher education institutions around the world)
·
Copyright Information
and Policies (links to Library of Congress, UK Copyright FAQ, etc.)
· Conference
on Fair Use (CONFU and proposed fair use guidelines)
CONFU put together a group of individuals affected by fair use guidelines. This group of public and private participants, which included publishers, librarians and educators, debated not only fair use guidelines, but also how they relate to library copying, education use, digital images, computer software in libraries, and distance learning. This page contains the Final Report to the Commissioner on the Conclusion of the Conference on Fair Use (Nov 98), and Report to the Commissioner on the Conclusion of the First Phase of the Conference on Fair Use (Sept 97) . It also includes the opinions and comments of the participants, and how they voted on each proposal.
· Crews,
Kenneth D. Fair Use and Higher Education: Are Guidelines the Answer? As
published in Academe: Bulletin of the American Association of University
Professors, Vol. 83, No. 6 (November/December 1997).
In 1976, Congress began to pass copyright laws that effected educators. John Stedman wrote an article on fair use in AAUP the following year which influenced many faculty members, and led to a group of educators who opposed the classroom use guidelines. This article expands on their actions and the outcomes, and what educators need to do in this day and age of electronic resources.
Michigan Document Services, Inc. Case
· Not
the "Last Word" on Photocopying and Coursepacks: The Sixth Circuit
Rules Against Fair Use in the MDS Case, an analysis by Kenneth D. Crews of the
November 8, 1996 Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Princeton
University Press v. Michigan Document Services, Inc..
The Michigan Document Service was charged with making up course packs for faculty members, and then selling them to the students. This article discusses the case and details the reasoning behind the courts decision. The most interesting part of the article was the realization that the “classroom guidelines are not the law”. Crews’ does a wonderful job deciphering the courts decisions, and translating it into plain English.
· Notes
from the June 12, 1996 rehearing en banc before the Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals.
Crews’ attended the hearing, and offers his interpretation and insight. This article highlights each lawyers argument in much more detail.
· Copyright
Law, Libraries, and Universities, Kenneth D. Crews (1992)
This document outlines the effects of copyright laws on academic institutions and encourages all librarians in those institutions to play an active roll in ensuring that copyright laws meet the needs of the community they serve. Crews’ definitions of fair user and library reproduction rights and how they pertain to academic institutions are very concise and easy to understand. It was fascinating to read his opinions on future developments especially in regards to the guidelines for fair use of computer software.
· Fair
Use in the Electronic Age: Serving the Public Interest (ARL Working Document)
Several library associations developed this document to educate the public they serve about fair use in the library. This document explains very simply and clearly the history and consequences of the 1976 Copyright Act, and the fair use provisions of the act. It lists what the public, non-profit libraries, on behalf of their clientele, and educational institutions have a right to expect from the act.
Southern CT State University (or CSU, for that matter)
has no similar website indicating the university policy about copyright.
· Do
you think a copyright website would be a good thing to have at CSU? IF so, what
kind of information should be included there? or
· Do
you think a copyright website is not needed and why?
Because you had enough interest in the subject to take this course, your opinions are particularly valuable.
Whether they know it or not, copyright plays an integral role in every students, librarians and faculty members educational life. Between the photocopying of articles for term papers and assignment, to putting photocopied materials on reserve, many assume that their copies are protected under the fair use guidelines. It is often difficult for many people to understand why the big photocopying chains will not copy books for their customers. It is for this very reason, that institutions of higher education should have a website dedicated specifically to this topic.
The website on copyright law and fair use must be easy to navigate, and offer information not only for graduate students writing dissertations, faculty members, and librarians, but undergraduates at well. It must therefore contain some information that is easy to read and comprehend. A document such as Indiana University’s Policy on Fair Use of Copyrighted Works for Education and Research would serve as an excellent model for any college or university undertaking this project. Kenneth Crews’ article titled Fair Use: Overview and Meaning for Higher Education and Dwayne Buttler’s article A Fair-Use Case Study: Using Copyrighted Materials On The World Wide Web are both excellent resources that could be included on website. They offer insight into the mysteries of copyright that any institutional member can understand. Jeff Rosedale’s Electronic Reserves Clearinghouse page offers several wonderful links to copyright and fair use related sites. This page maybe especially useful for librarians and faculty members, as there are links to several other libraries course reserve pages, and forms used by other university libraries for reserves. Links should be added to such useful sights as the Copyright Clearance Center.
However, adding a website on copyright and fair use guidelines will do no good, unless the community it serves is made aware of it. The institution must publicize this resource, and take steps to educate their students, faculty and staff. Especially if the institution were to follow Indian University’s policy which basically states that if the faculty, staff, and librarians act in good faith, and follow the nine fair use principles laid out in the document, that the Indiana University indemnification policy will protect them if they are challenged. It must then be mandatory for all faculty members to read the institutions fair use policy, and pass the information along to their students.
It is important for everyone to understand their rights, and how the copyright and fair use laws pertains to them. Developing a website dedicated to this issue makes it very easy for the community as a whole to become educated as they would have these resources at their fingertips.