Copyright in the networked world: copies in courses
| Published date | 01 April 2006 |
| Date | 01 April 2006 |
| Pages | 305-310 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830610669655 |
| Author | Michael Seadle |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
COLUMN
Copyright in the networked
world: copies in courses
Michael Seadle
MSU Libraries, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This column looks at questions from teaching faculty about the use of copyright protected
materials in an online course.
Design/methodology/approach – Copyright guidelines are considered. The US TEACH Act and
Fair Use statutes are examined, as well as how to make a risk assessment for the institution.
Findings – US universities have a reasonable freedom to use protected materials in the virtual
equivalent of face-to-face teaching, as long as it costs the rights holders no loss of expected income and
as long as it takes into account the litigiousness of certain firms and associations.
Originality/value – Each copyright use assessment has unique circumstances, but a discussion of
the reasoning behind an actual case helps to build a community of good practice that strengthens
similar assessments.
Keywords Copyright law, Riskassessment, Law enforcement
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Copyright, like many areas of the law, is all about specifics, and this is especially true
for the exemptions on “fair use” (17 USC 107, 2006) and teaching (17 USC 110, 2006). It is
possible to give instructors some general guidelines that help them to avoid obvious
problems, but overly strict guidelines discourage people from taking advantage of
legitimate exemptions – which can cost the university and its students money – and
overly lax guidelines can lead to lawsuits.
This article has two parts. In the first, I discuss a set of guidelines that I created for
copyright workshops that I teach at Michigan State University (MSU). In the second,
I look at an actual set of questions from an instructor to show where the guidelines
apply, and where a more detailed examination of the specifics becomes necessary.
Guidelines
At MSU I am the person who holds workshops twice each semester for gra duate
students, faculty, and staff about the use of copyright-protected materials in teaching
and research. Since, I also answers questions from MSU faculty about the use of
copyright protected materials in the classroom, I developed the following guidelines to
filter out some of the most basic questions for distance education, including hybrid
courses that mix internet and classroom instruction:
These are rules-of-thumb for using copyright-protected materials in Internet-based distance
education classes where: a) the materials are in available only within a password protected
environment with access restricted to enrolled students (e.g. Angel); b) any MSU
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
Copyright in the
networked world
305
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 24 No. 2, 2006
pp. 305-310
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830610669655
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