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Copyright for Users

Ordinarily, copying printed or digital material without the permission of the copyright owner is a violation of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner. However, within the copyright law exists the doctrine of Fair Use, which sets certain limitations on the exclusive rights of producers of copyrighted materials and allows a rather limited amount of reproduction of copyrighted works without the copyright owner's permission for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, or teaching.

Medium Explanation

Restricted, Permitted, or
Permitted with Conditions

Published Works that were Never Copyrighted Anyone may photocopy, without restriction
  • Works published prior to 1989 without a notice of copyright. (A notice of copyright consists of the copyright symbol or the word "copyright," plus the first year of publication and the name of the copyright owner.)

  • Writings published without copyright notices prior to January 1, 1978 are not protected. Publication is defined to mean the distribution of copies of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or loan. 

  • Notice requirements for works published between January 1, 1978, and February 28, 1989, were relaxed somewhat with respect to both the position of notices and the inadvertent omission of them.
  • Effective March 1, 1989, the requirement that a work have a notice of copyright was abolished. Thus, any work created or published after March 1, 1989 is protected by copyright even if no notice of copyright is affixed.

 

Published Works Whose Copyrights Have Expired Anyone may photocopy, without restriction
  • Published works on which the copyright term and any renewals thereto have expired.
  • Copyrights dated 1920 (75 years prior to the current year) or later may or may not have expired, depending upon whether its owner renewed the copyright after the first term of protection. Thus it is recommended that photocopiers either assume the protection is still in effect, or ask the copyright owner or U.S. Copyright Office whether the work is still subject to copyright protection. Usually a publisher owns the copyright or knows the owner's location. If not, an owner can be located through the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 20559.

 

U.S. Government Publications U.S. government publications may be photocopied without constraint, except to the extent that they contain copyrighted work from other sources.
  • This classification consists of documents prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. government as part of that person's official duties.
  • It does not extend to documents published by others with the support of U.S. government grants or contracts.
  • Because such documents may or may not be copyrighted, educators should consult the publication for a copyright notice.

Single Copies: For instructional purposes, including preparation for teaching, scholarly research, etc. an instructor may make or have a single copy of a work. One Chapter of a Book

One Article from a Journal or Newspaper

One short story, essay or short poem

One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoons, or picture, from one book or periodical.

As outlined in the Fair Use guidelines.

 

Multiple Copies for one time distribution in class to students. Must meet the following tests and conditions:

  • Brevity

  • Spontaneity

  • Cumulative Effects

  • Notice of Copyright

  • No charge beyond cost of copying passed to students

As outlined in the Fair Use guidelines.

Reserve Collection-Single Copies Placed on Reserve If the request calls for a single copy to be placed on reserve, the library may photocopy an entire article, an entire chapter from a book, or an entire poem.

Exception

Copies of copyrighted materials may not be retained on reserve for more than one term for any faculty member unless the library receives proof from the faculty member that permission to reproduce and distribute copies in this fashion has been granted by the copyright holder and that the reproduction is in accordance with all copyright laws.

 

Reserve Collection-Multiple Copies Placed on Reserve Requests for multiple copies to be placed on reserve should meet the following guidelines:
  • the amount of material should be reasonable in relation to the total amount of material assigned for one term of a course, taking into account the nature of the course, its subject matter and level;
  • the number of copies should be reasonable in light of the number of students enrolled, and the difficulty and timing of assignments (in no case to exceed five copies of any given reading);
  • The material should contain a notice of copyright as described in paragraph III. A. 1. above;
  • The effect of photocopying the material should not be detrimental to the market for the work (in general, the Library should own at least one copy of the work).

Exception

Copies of copyrighted materials may not be retained on reserve for more than one term for any faculty member unless the library receives proof from the faculty member that permission to reproduce and distribute copies in this fashion has been granted by the copyright holder and that the reproduction is in accordance with all copyright laws.

 

Reserve Collection-Anthologies The Library will not accept anthologies of readings, also known as course packets, for deposit in the reserve units.  

Unpublished Works One should obtain permission from owners of unpublished works in order to copy them. The law gives automatic protection to unpublished works from the time they are created until they are published.

Entire Issues of Periodicals Copying should not be a substitute for purchasing a periodical for use without permission.

Entire Books Copying should not be a substitute for purchasing a book for use without permission

Repetitive Copying Copying of the same material by the same teacher from term to term is not permitted without permission.

 

Computer Programs, including databases and CD-ROMs
*This information may be subject to certain license agreements between Coy C. Carpenter Library and various vendors and/or publishers.
 Copying

The owner of a copy of a program may make another copy of that program only when it is an essential step to utilize that program in conjunction with a machine.

  • Loading a program on the hard drive.
  • Translating from one computer language to another.
  • Converting from 5 ¼” to 3 ½ “ disc
  • When it is for archival purposes.

 

Electronic Publishing
  • Full Text Versions of Print Journals
  • Electronic only Journals
  • Pre-Publication
*This information may be subject to certain license agreements between Coy C. Carpenter Library and various vendors and/or publishers.
 Copying/Downloading

Single Copies: For instructional purposes, including preparation for teaching, scholarly research, etc. users may download, make or have a single copy of a work.

Exceptions

  • Entire Issues of a periodicals should not be downloaded.  Copying should not be a substitute for purchasing a periodical for use without permission.
  • Copying of the same material by the same teacher from term to term is not permitted without permission.

Electronic Reserves

Materials used for electronic reserve may include short items, such as, an article from a journal, a chapter from a book or conference proceedings, etc. 

Short term access to materials included on electronic reserve in previous academic terms may be provided to students who have not completed the course. 

Exceptions

  • No more than 10% of any book may be placed on electronic reserve. 
  • Instructors using any item more than 2 consecutive semesters are responsible for obtaining copyright permission from the publisher or owner of the material.
  • Permission from the copyright holder is required if the item is to be reused in a subsequent academic term for the same course offered by the same instructor.
  • Material may be retained in electronic form while permission is being sought or until the next academic term in which the material might be used, but in no event for more than 3 calendar years, including the year in which the materials are last used. 

Internet and the World Wide Web Images may be downloaded for use in projects. 

Sound Files may be downloaded for use in projects

Exception

Images may not be reposted onto the Internet without permission of author.

Sound or music files may not be copied and posted on the Internet without permission of author.

 

Videotapes Copying

The owner of a video may copy the video for

  • Archival purposes
  • Replace a lost, damaged or stolen copy if a replacement is unavailable or is not available at fair price. (link to ALA fair price guide)

Users are not authorized to copy videotape materials.

Use

Videotapes may be used in an educational setting if:

  • They were acquired by legal channels.
  • Are used in a classroom setting, dedicated to “face to face instruction”* not for entertainment or reward.
  • Used in a non-profit educational institution.

 

Television Broadcasts Use

A video recording of a broadcast television program may be used in an educational setting:

  • If they were acquired by legal channels.
  • Are used in a classroom setting, dedicated to “face to face instruction”* not for entertainment or reward.
  •  In a non-profit educational institution.

Exceptions

  • Need not be used in their entirety
  • May not be altered from their original content
  • May not be physically or electronically combined or merged to constitute teaching anthologies or compilations.

 

Slides Copying

The owner of a slide may copy the slide for

  • Archival purposes
  • Replace a lost, damaged or stolen copy if a replacement is unavailable or is not available at fair price.

Users are not authorized to copy slide materials.

Use

Slides may be used in an educational setting if:

  • They were acquired by legal channels.
  • Are used in a classroom setting, dedicated to “face to face instruction”
  • Used in a non-profit educational institution.

 

* 17 U.S.C. 110 (1) of the copyright law creates an exception to the copyright holder's exclusive right of performance. The "face-to-face" exemption allows an educator to perform a work (including home use video) in class, as long as the following criteria are met:

  • Applies only to non-profit educational institutions;
  • Applies only to instructional activities in the classroom where the teacher and students are in the same location;
  • Covers performances of copyrighted works by teachers, students, and guest lecturers;
  • The audience must be composed of members of one class only;
  • The performance must be part of "systematic instruction," which does not include recreational or cultural programs;
  • The performance must take place in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction (i.e., not a gymnasium, auditorium, class play, graduation, athletic event, etc.);
  • Must use a lawfully made copy of the film or video. When a professor has taken parts of copyrighted materials to make the copy, whether or not the copy was lawfully made depends upon an analysis of the four "fair use" factors. The face-to-face exemption itself does not authorize any copying.

There are no exceptions to the above requirements.

Back to the main copyright page.

*Some of the information on this and other pages was taken from the workshop "Copyright in the Digital Age" presented by Laura Gassaway, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in February 2003.