Appendices : Copyright in the Information Age (Georgetown University Policies)

Appendices

Scenarios
Glossary of Terms and Provisions of the TEACH Act: A Supplement
Sample Permission Requests
Additional Copyright Resources

A. Scenarios

Scenario 1.
You are teaching an introductory course in theology. Because of the large number of students enrolled in the course, it is simultaneously telecast to the overflow students at a different location.

May the telecast be saved for later viewing of absent students?: Answer: [Yes, but use of any copyrighted materials in the telecast may complicate the matter and limit flexibility in re-using the telecast. See the preceding guidelines on the TEACH Act.]
Who owns the copyright to the telecast of the professor's lecture?: Answer: [At Georgetown, it is the professor and consult section VIII.]

Scenario 2. You require students to read three articles placed on electronic reserve in the library and to consult a Web site you have developed for the course which includes links to other sites, as well as images and text files you have scanned yourself or incorporated from other sites. All students must create multimedia projects as their final exam.

This isn't the first time you have used the materials for reserve; do you need copyright permission?: Answer: [Yes. The first semester's use would be covered by Fair Use.]
Should the electronic reserve materials include an attribution to the original sources?: Answer: [Yes, as well as a notice of copyright.]
May the course Web site include images and text files that are under copyright?: Answer: [Fair Use permits limited use of copyrighted resources. If faculty copy material in excess of fair use onto a course site, the TEACH Act requires that access to the resources be limited to members of the class. With the NetID-enabled learning management system (currently Blackboard), access is limited to students enrolled in the course. For a conventional Web-based course site, faculty should impose a password requirement, give that password only to students, and change the password after every semester.]
May students use copyrighted materials when they create their multimedia projects?: Answer: [Yes, but they should cite the copyright holder of materials they use, and they should follow Fair Use guidelines. By contrast, if the projects are posted on a course Web site, access should be limited to members of the course, and the materials should not remain available beyond the end of the semester.]

B. Glossary of Terms and Provisions of the TEACH Act: A Supplement to the Checklist*

Lawfully made. "Lawfully made" includes not only materials made with the permission or under the authority of the copyright holder but also those made under the authority of the copyright act, such as "fair use" copies. Works excluded are those performances or displays given by means of copies "not lawfully made and acquired" under the U.S. Copyright Act, if the educational institution "knew or had reason to believe" that they were not lawfully made and acquired. Avoid use of pirated works.
Marketed for instructional purposes. Works that are marketed "primarily for performance or display as part of mediated instructional activities transmitted via digital networks" are explicitly excluded under the TEACH Act and might also fail under " the nature of the work" test in Fair Use. This limitation is clearly intended to protect the market for commercially available educational materials. For example, if specific materials are available through an online database, or marketed in a format that may be delivered for educational purposes through "digital" systems, the TEACH Act generally steers users to those commercial sources, rather than allowing faculty to digitize and upload their own copies of those materials free of charge.
Integral to a class session. The copyrighted materials are "directly related and of material assistance to the teaching content of the transmission." In other words, the materials must serve an educational purpose and are not disseminated for entertainment or any other non-academic purpose.
Instructional activities supervised by the instructor. Instructional activities are activities that use such [permitted] digital works

as an integral part of the class experience;
under the control or actual supervision of the instructor;
in a manner analogous to performances and displays in live classroom settings; and
in a manner "directly related and of material assistance to the teaching content of the transmission" and not as an entertainment add-on or passive background/optional reading.

According to the Senate Report, such activities must make the works central to the course rather than ancillary to it.

a. Non-dramatic vs. dramatic works. The Copyright Act does not define "nondramatic" or, for that matter, "dramatic." A dramatic work is "a written or literary work invented and set in order" in which the narrative is not related but is represented by dialogue and action. It is "a work in which the narrative is told by dialogue and action, and the characters go through a series of events which tell a connected story . . . " "Fundamentally there seem to be but two essential elements for a dramatic composition: (1) that it relate a story and (2) that it provide directions whereby a substantial portion of the story may be visually or audibly represented to an audience as actually occurring, rather than merely being narrated or described."* Thus, performances of a nondramatic literary work would include readings from textbooks, novels, and poetry. Dramatic works would be exemplified by stage plays.

b. Reasonable and limited portion. As used in the TEACH Act, the "reasonable and limited portion" requirement applies to the performance of any type of work (other than nondramatic literary or musical works which can be performed and transmitted in their entirety). In determining what is reasonable and limited one should take into account both the nature of the market for that type of work and the pedagogical purposes of the performance [from Senate Report]. For displays of works, the amount allowed by the TEACH Act is the amount that could have been used in a live classroom setting.*
Reception limited to enrolled students. Learning management systems (such as Blackboard at Georgetown) are linked to the university's legacy data systems and security systems so that only students enrolled in a course can get password-protected access to the course site. By contrast, public Web-based course sites do not automatically limit access to students enrolled in the course; consequently, faculty who copy material in excess of fair use onto a conventional Web-based course site should impose a password requirement, give that password only to students, and change the password after every semester.
Class session. For asynchronous online teaching, the meaning of "a class session" is ambiguous, and it may be shaped by the faculty member's practice of (1) assigning a work in advance of or subsequent to the days during which that work is discussed in the classroom or (2) making a work the subject of individual analysis, group assignments, examinations, over a period of time. Clearly, however, the intent of the lawmakers is that a copyrighted work not remain accessible beyond the period of its active use. If a course management system permits timed release of and removal of access to course materials, that function should be adopted judiciously; if not, the faculty member will have to upload and remove copyrighted materials as soon as the period of their use has ended.
Reasonable downstream controls instituted. At present, there is no technical means to prevent the duplication or redistribution of most online digital media; even some forms of streaming media can be duplicated. Consequently, until such technologies emerge, faculty should rely heavily on educational methods (by instructing their students on the importance of copyright) or logistical methods (such as the timed release and removal of copyrighted works) to ensure that copyrighted works used in the course are not redistributed.
Digital version unavailable or technologically protected. The amount of the work converted should be no greater than the amount that can lawfully be used for the course. Even then there must be no digital version of the work available to the institution, or if such a version exists, it must have technological protection that prevents its distribution in the course.
Copyright notice. Notify the students that a work may be subject to copyright protection and that they may not violate the legal rights of the copyright holder. For example, "TEACH Copyright Notice. The materials on this course Web site are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated."

* Glossary definitions are derived from "The TEACH Act Toolkit"

C. Sample Permission Requests

Sample Request E-mail for Georgetown University Faculty

Dear Permissions Editor:

I teach a course titled "American Studies: Development of the American West" (AMST 123) at Georgetown University. I request your permission to reproduce the following excerpt for use in my course in the Spring term, 200X.

Title: Favorite Cowboy Poetry, 2ed.

Author: Tex Ritter

ISBN/ISSN: 0-709-00070-2

Material to be duplicated: Chapter 6, pp. 186-211; Chapter 9, pp. 310-343

Number of copies: Approximately 30 to 40

Distribution: One copy of the material will be distributed to each student in the course. They will pay only the cost of the photocopying and permission fees, if any. [Or, "There will be no charge to students for this material," or "Students will be charged only permission fees, if any."]

Type of Reproduction: Photocopying

This material will be used as a supplementary reading in the course.

These materials are intended for nonprofit educational use, and I would be grateful if you could authorize their use without a fee. Each copy will bear a notice of copyright in the name of Fullcourt Press, unless you request a different notice.

If you do not solely control copyright of the requested materials, please respond with information regarding others to whom I should write, including most recent addresses if available.

Thank you for your prompt consideration of this request. If you need additional information, please contact me at 202-687-____ or ____@georgetown.edu.

Sincerely,

John T. Smith, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Georgetown University
New North 306, Box 571131
Washington, DC20057-1131

Sample Request Letter for Georgetown University Faculty

Permissions Department
Fullcourt Press
250 West 55th Street
New York, New York 10015

Dear Permissions Editor:

Title: Favorite Cowboy Poetry, 2ed.

Author: Tex Ritter

ISBN/ISSN: 0-709-00070-2

Material to be duplicated: Chapter 6, pp. 186-211; Chapter 9, pp. 310-343

Number of copies: Approximately 30 to 40

Type of Reproduction: Photocopying

This material will be used as a supplementary reading in the course.

These materials are intended for nonprofit educational use, and I would be grateful if you could authorize their use without fee. Each copy will bear a notice of copyright in the name of Fullcourt Press, unless you request a different notice.

I have included a permission form at the bottom of this letter, which I ask that you sign and return to me in the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope.

If you do not solely control copyright of the requested materials, please respond with information regarding others to whom I should write, including most recent addresses if available.

Thank you for your prompt consideration of this request. If you need additional information, please contact me at 202-687-____ or ____@georgetown.edu.

Sincerely,

John T. Smith, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Georgetown University
New North 306, Box 571131
Washington, DC20057-1131

_______________________________________________________________________

Permission is hereby granted for use of the material as described above. I hereby signify that I have the authority to grant the permission requested herein as the representative of the sole owner/author of the work.

_______________________
Name of authorized signatory

_______________________
Title
_______________________
Company/Institution

_______________________
Date

D. Additional Copyright Resources:

Faculty Copyright Guide - produced by partners at the Center for New Design and Learning in Scholarship (CNDLS) and other Georgetown University constituents
U.S. Copyright Law - copyright law and related laws contained in the United States Code (U.S.C.) maintained by the U.S. Copyright Office
Crash Course in Copyright - basic and detailed explanations of copyright concepts, issues and laws developed by the University of Texas
Copyright Basics - copyright primer developed by the U.S. Copyright Office
Copyright Management Center - the first center in the U.S. to manage copyright issues for teaching, research, and service; serves the Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis community
Creative Commons - an organization devoted to developing a flexible and easily accessible copyrights system for the public in the face of restrictive copyright rules
Teach Act Toolkit
Guidelines for Making Multiple Photocopies for Classroom Use or Discussion
Photocopying Copyrighted works for Classroom, Research and Library Reserve Use
New Copyright Law for Distance Education: The Meaning and Importance of the TEACH Act
Teach Act Best Practices Using Blackboard