What Copyright Is

Copyright is a form of legal protection for authors of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual products. Publication is not essential for copyright protection, nor is the well known symbol of the encircled "c". Section 106 of the Copyright Act (90 Stat 2541) generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

1. Reproduce copies of the work.

2. Prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work.

3. Distribute copies of the work by sale, rental, lease, or lending.

4. Publicly perform the work (if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work or a pantomime, motion picture or audiovisual work).

5. Publicly display the work (if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, sculptural, graphic, or pictorial work -- including the individual images of a film -- or a pantomime).

Fair Use

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether the copied material will be for nonprofit, educational, or commercial use. This factor at first seems reassuring; but unfortunately for educators, several courts have held that absence of financial gain is insufficient for a finding of fair use.

2. The nature of the copyrighted work, with special consideration given to the distinction between a creative work and an informational work. For example, photocopies made of a newspaper or newsmagazine column are more likely to be considered a fair use than copies made of a musical score or a short story. Duplication of material originally developed for classroom consumption is less likely to be a fair use than is the duplication of materials prepared for public consumption. For example, a teacher who photocopies a workbook page or a textbook chapter is depriving the copyright owner of profits more directly than if copying one page from the daily paper.

3. The amount, substantiality, or portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. This factor requires consideration of 1) the proportion of the larger work that is copied and used, and 2) the significance of the copied portion.

4. The effect of the use on the potential market of the copyrighted work. This factor is regarded... as the most critical one in determining fair use; and it serves as the basic principle from which the other three factors are derived and to which they are related. If the reproduction of a copyrighted work reduces the potential market and sales and, therefore, the potential profits of the copyright owner, that use is unlikely to be found a fair use.

The College participates in contractual arrangements mandating royalty payments or licensing fees to copyright owners whenever feasible. Nevertheless, it often falls to the individual to obtain written permission from the copyright owner to copy a large portion of a work or an entire work, or to produce multiple copies of chapters or periodical articles. 

Printed Materials

Occasionally, scholarly publications such as journal articles include a note offering the right to copy for educational purposes.

Some categories of publications are in the public domain; that is, their use is not protected by copyright law: 

1. Publications dated 1922 or earlier.

2. Works that do not include a copyright notice and were first published before January 1, 1978.

3. Most United States government documents.

Photocopying

Printed Materials Other Than Music: What Quantity Conforms to the Law?

Single Copies for Scholarly Needs or Library Reserve

1. A chapter of a book.

2. A newspaper or periodical article.

3. A short story, short essay, or short poem.

4. A chart, diagram, drawing, graph, cartoon, or picture.

* Articles, etc. that are submitted for Reserve are considered the property of the instructor and will be returned at term-end. (See "Library Reserve Services", for further information.)

Multiple Copies for Classroom Use

Multiple copies (not to exceed more than one copy per pupil in a course) may be made under the Fair Use Guidelines provided that the copying meets the following tests of brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect. In addition, each copy must also include prominent notice that it is copyrighted material.

Brevity

Prose: Either (1) a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or (2) an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, but in any event a minimum of 500 words.

Poetry: (1) A complete poem if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages, or (2) an excerpt of not more than 250 words.

(Each of the numerical limits above may be expanded to permit the completion of an unfinished prose paragraph or line of a poem.)

Illustration: One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or periodical issue.

"Special" Works: Certain works in poetry or prose or in "poetic prose", which may combine language with illustrations and which fall short of 2,500 words, may not be reproduced in their entirety. However, an excerpt comprising not more than two of the published pages of such a work, and containing not more than 10% of the words found in the text, may be reproduced.

Spontaneity

The copying is at the instance and inspiration of the individual instructor.

The inspiration and decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission.

Cumulative Effect

The copying of the material is for only one course, with no more than one copy per student in the course.

Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, nor more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume during a term.

There shall not be more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one course during a term.

Course Packets

Contact the SMC Bookstore for assistance in copyright permission for course packets. Expect several weeks delay in cases where copyright owners are elusive.

Photocopying Music for Educational Purposes

What Quantity Conforms to the Law?

For a Performance - Emergency copying is permitted so long as replacement copies are subsequently purchased.

Single Copies for Personal or Library Reserve Use (Academic Purposes Other Than Performance) - An entire performable unit (section, movement, aria, etc.) if the unit is out of print or available only in a larger work.

Multiple Copies for Classroom (Non-Performance) Use - Excerpts may comprise no more than 10% of a whole work and may not constitute a performable unit.

Packets of Photocopied Music Excerpts
See section above, "Course Packets ".

The Library encourages you to place items that will be in high demand on Reserve.  Reserve items are held behind the circulation desk and circulate for two hours within the library only.  Most items in the general collection can be placed on Reserve, with the exception of Reference items.  You may wish to have personal copies of books placed on reserve.  Photocopies of periodical articles or other materials can also be placed on Reserve as long as copyright guidelines are followed (see Library Reserve Guidelines).  Reserve items can be searched in the Library online catalog by instructor name, course name or title of the item on reserve.  Please come by the Library with your materials and fill out a Reserve Request form.  

Unpublished Works

Unpublished works that belong to the Library or College Archives may be reproduced in facsimile format for preservation purposes or for deposit for research use in another library or archives. Copies may usually be made for individual researchers under the law's Fair Use provisions.

Audiovisual Materials

Classroom Use

Section 110 (1) of the Copyright Act of 1976 specifies that the following is permitted:

Performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, unless, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, the performance, or the display of individual images is given by means of a copy that was not lawfully made...and that the person responsible for the performance knew or had reason to believe was not lawfully made.

1. They must be shown as part of the instructional program.

2. They must be shown by students, instructors, or guest lecturers.

3. They must be shown either in a classroom or other school location devoted to instruction such as a studio, workshop, library, gymnasium,or auditorium if it is used for instruction.

4. They must be shown either in a face-to-face setting or where students and teacher(s) are in the same building or general area.

5. They must be shown only to students and educators.

6. They must be shown using a legitimate (that is, not illegally reproduced) copy with the copyright notice included.

Use Outside the Classroom

Copying Videotapes / Off-Air Recording of Broadcasts, Including Satellite TV

Licenses may be obtained for copying and off-air recording. Absent a formal agreement, "Guidelines for Off-the-Air Recording of Broadcast Programming for Educational Purposes", an official part of the Copyright Act's legislative history, applies to most off-air recording [from Virginia M. Helms, supra]:

1. Videotaped recordings may be kept for no more than 45 calendar days after the recording date, at which time the tapes must be erased.

2. Videotaped recordings may be shown to students only within the first 10 school days of the 45-day retention period.

3. Off-air recordings must be made only at the request of an individual instructor for instructional purposes, not by staff in anticipation of later requests.

4. The recordings are to be shown to students no more than two times during the 10-day period, and the second time only for necessary instructional reinforcement.

5. The taped recordings may be viewed after the 10-day period only by instructors for evaluation purposes, that is, to determine whether to include the broadcast program in the curriculum in the future.

6. If several instructors request videotaping of the same program, duplicate copies are permitted to meet the need; all copies are subject to the same restrictions as the original recording.

7. The off-air recordings may not be physically or electronically altered or combined with others to form anthologies, but they need not necessarily be used or shown in their entirety.

8. All copies of off-air recordings must include the copyright notice on the broadcast program as recorded.

9. These guidelines apply only to nonprofit educational institutions, which are further expected to establish appropriate control procedures to maintain the integrity of these guidelines.

Sound Recordings

Non-Music Recordings

Music Recordings

Slides and Photographs

Reproduction

Whenever possible, Santa Monica College will either purchase slides and photographs from authorized sources or will borrow from institutions which offer licensing for single-copy reproduction. In either case, further copying would be prohibited.

Occasionally, slides of copyrighted images that are needed for classroom purposes cannot be obtained ready-made in a timely fashion. If the process of slide-making would fail to meet Fair Use requirements, the requestor must demonstrate that the copyright owner has granted permission.

Display

Copyright ownership of slides and photographs encompasses control over display as well as reproduction. However, Section 110 of the Copyright Act of 1976 addresses the display of copyrighted slides and photographs in educational settings by allowing "display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a non-profit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction" so long as the copy of the artwork was lawfully made. Furthermore, the purpose of the display must be integral to the course.

Educational Multimedia Fair Use

Motion Media

Up to 10% or 3 minutes of a source, whichever is less.

Text

Up to 10% or 1000 words of a source, whichever is less. An entire poem of less than 250 words, but no more than 3 poems or excerpts by one poet. No more than 5 poems or excerpts from one anthology.

Music, Lyrics, Music Video

Up to 10% but not more than 30 seconds total from an individual work.

Illustrations, Photographs

No more than 5 images by one artist or photographer. No more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, from any single published work.

Numerical Data Sets

Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less.

Internet Sources

Though it can be difficult to determine what is copyright protected and what is in the public domain, the multimedia creator is responsible for adhering to copyright law.

Opening Screen Notice

Integrity of Sources

Computer Software

Software products that are not licensed to the College may also be used. However, copying is strictly limited except for backup purposes. Whether the software is transferred from the original to a hard disk or to an archival diskette, the backup copy is not to be used at all so long as the other copy is functional.

Libraries are permitted to lend software, but only for temporary use, not for copying. If the borrower transfers the software to a hard disk, the program must be deleted when the borrowed item is returned.

Copyright law is acknowledged to be inadequate in relation to the complexities of software use. EDUCOM, a nonprofit organization that supports the use of technology in education, launched the EDUCOM Software Initiative, which developed a statement of principle intended for adaptation and use by individual colleges and universities. It is here reproduced in full:

The EDUCOM Code

Respect for intellectual labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse and enterprise. This principle applies to works of all authors and publishers in all media. It encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgment, right to privacy, and right to determine the form, manner, and terms of publication and distribution.

Because electronic information is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for the work and personal expression of others is especially critical in computer environments. Violations of authorial integrity, including plagiarism, invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and trade secret and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions against members of the academic community.

- Adapted with permission from Wellesley College -

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