Much of the information in this section is drawn from content posted on the Web site of the U.S. Copyright Office and is based on the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. The information appears here in an edited form.
For a fuller discussion of these topics, including references to legal and other resources, visit: www.copyright.gov.
For most copyright questions, we follow an overall guide: When In Doubt, Gain Permission
The basic rules and applications of copyright are explained on the "Copyright Basics" tab of this guide - it is expected that the viewers of this Faculty specific guide ARE ALSO AWARE of the details of copyright as explained on that page, and any relevant exceptions to these rules by using the governments' available resources.
When using this guide for instructional purposes, we ask that students refrain from using this page as the information, while still accurate, may be irrelevant to student use needs.
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Universal international copyright does not exist, but the US is an acting member of the Berne Convention, which is the most widely-adopted copyright treaty in the world. Some guidelines for the applications of this are as follows:
In addition to those basics outlined on the "Copyright Basics" tab of this guide, it is also important to know for faculty and staff that:
All Shaw University students have FREE ACCESS to Grammarly premium software - a tool to use for grammar, spelling, plagiarism, citation assistance, and copyright issues!
Their website also offers free access to many of their tools, providing access without an account.
Posting an item to Moodle does not exempt an instructor from copyright regulations. Therefore, instructors are encouraged to consult these guidelines to ensure they enforce proper copyright protocol:
Remember that repeated use over multiple semesters weighs against fair use. For repeated use, you will likely need to contact the publisher and request permissions.
Item | Probably Allowed Use | Not Allowed Use |
---|---|---|
Website containing copyrighted material | Link to the Website using Moodle | Copying and pasting information into Blackboard |
Copyrighted web image | Must be educational in nature; display in Moodle for one semester | Repeated use over multiple semesters |
Article from a library database | Direct linking to the article | Copying and pasting the article into Moodle |
Scanned copyrighted image | Must be educational in nature, display in Moodle for one semester | Repeated use over multiple semesters |
Scanned chapter from a book | 5% of the total work (if in-print), 10% of the total work (if out-of-print), allowed for only one semester | More than the allotted percent, or repeated use over multiple semesters |
Scanned article from a journal, trade publication, or magazine | A single article, for one semester | Multiple articles from the same publication, or repeated use over multiple semesters |
Audio Files | No more than 30 seconds, without permission | Repeated use over multiple semesters, longer than the allotted time |
Video Files | 10% of the total content, or 3 minutes (whichever is less) |
Repeated use over multiple semesters, longer than the allotted time |
(The courts are not bound by these amounts and the Copyright Act contains no such amounts. Therefore it is always advisable to err on the side of caution and complete your own fair use evaluation before scanning and posting to Moodle.)
Single copying for teachers:
A single copy generally may be made of any of the following for teaching purposes:
Multiple copies for classroom use:
Multiple print or digital copies of articles, book chapters, or other works may be made for classroom use or discussion provided that:
Other considerations:
You should not copy works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or teaching. These include workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and test booklets, and answer sheets. Copying should not substitute for the purchase of books or periodicals.
Some examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use:
Online and distance education
The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act was passed in November 2002 as an amendment to the face-to-face performance and display exemption of copyright law (Sections 110(2) and 112). The requirements for compliance are somewhat complex, and the TEACH Act should be considered as one of several options available to instructors when using copyrighted works in their distance education courses.
The Copyright Act contains specific exceptions for the use of copyright-protected materials by academic institutions. These provisions include:
Here is a link to view the “Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code”.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.