Editor's notes:
Copyright Policy of Carnegie Mellon University
Reason for the Policy
To teach, members of the university faculty often find it necessary to make available to their students copyrighted material other than text books. Frequently the best way to do that is to copy such material and distribute it to the students. The Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U. S. C. sect. 1 et seq. (effective January 1, 1978), provides for duplication of copyrighted materials of others where the copying is considered a "fair use" of the material.
To facilitate legitimate copying by university faculty and staff within the purview of the Copyright Act while carrying out educational, research, creative and scholarly pursuits, the university is publishing this copyright policy statement. This statement presents Carnegie Mellon University's criteria for copying copyrighted materials.
Policy Statement and Regulatory Compliance
1) It is the policy of Carnegie Mellon University that all members of the university community must comply with U.S. Copyright Law.
2) Copyrighted materials may be copied freely by the owner of the copyright on the materials.
Fair Use Standards
3) Faculty and staff are permitted to use and duplicate copyrighted materials of other parties for educational and classroom uses, provided such activities are within the fair use standard, 17 U. S. C. sect. 107. The fair use standard requires consideration and balancing by university faculty and staff members of the following factors to determine if duplication or use by a third party constitutes a fair use:
- The purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
- Nature of the copyrighted work.
- Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
- The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
- The copyright holder explicitly releases the published materials from strict observance of the law.
- The faculty member has obtained the right to use the materials in writing from the copyright holder who has explicitly released them for stated classroom or research purposes.
Non-profit educational purposes, such as duplication for classroom purposes rather than commercial purposes, generally tend to support a finding of fair use.
Is the work published or unpublished, fact or fiction? Published factual works, such as form books, dictionaries or other factual works, by their nature more readily support a finding of fair use than do unpublished works or non-factual, fictional, creative works.
If the portion of the work copied or used in relation to the entire work is quantitatively and qualitatively insignificant that supports a finding of fair use. No specific number of words or percentage copied of the work is set as being permissible. However, see the "safe harbor" guidelines discussed below. Copying of a minor portion of a work may be found to be other than a fair use if the portion constitutes the essence or critical part of the copied or used work.
This factor is considered the most important element to be considered under the fair use analysis. Duplication or use of a copyrighted work that is not detrimental to and does not diminish the potential market for the work will support a finding of fair use.
Frequently publishers, particularly association and scholarly publishers, will exempt educational uses of their materials from strict observance of the copyright law. Exemptions must be stated within the published materials. In such cases, it is permissible to copy the materials without permission or recompense, up to and including the limits set by the publishers, even when they exceed fair use requirements. On the other hand, a publisher may not claim rights in published materials which exceed those established under law. Though such claims may be made, faculty are under no legal obligation to follow them.
Notwithstanding the limitations of the law, publishers generally have established copyright clearance offices and standard practices to allow for educational uses in excess of legal limitations. Frequently, publishers will not ask for payment and all that is required is a written request for permission to use materials for classroom purposes.
4) The following duplication activity generally will not per se constitute fair use and should not be engaged in by university faculty or staff without permission from the copyright owner:
- Duplication of materials for profit.
- Duplication of material from published textbooks.
- Duplication of unpublished materials.
- Duplication of computer software for multiple use.
- Duplication of the same materials for classroom use term after term.
"Safe Harbor" Guidelines
5) Fair use analysis is, in many circumstances, a complex and difficult analysis. As an alternative, private organizations representing educational institutions, authors and publishers have developed an Agreement On Guidelines For Classroom Copying In Not-For-Profit Educational Institutions With Respect To Books And Periodicals; representatives of music publishers and music teachers have developed Guidelines For The Educational Uses Of Music; and representatives of educational institutions, copyright proprietor and creative guilds have developed Guidelines For Off-Air Recording of Broadcast Programming For Educational Purposes. These three guidelines provide a "safe harbor" with regard to fair use, in that any copying or use within these guidelines should be well within the limits of fair use, although other broader activities may also be within the fair use doctrine. These three established guidelines are available in the Libraries and at University Printing and Publications.
Contact
Questions concerning this policy or its intent are to be directed to:
- University librarian, x82447
- University attorney, x83708
Appendix: Examples of Fair Use Practice
Each of the examples below is intended to be illustrative and contains only a minimal amount of information needed to outline the circumstances. More adequate detail is provided in the "safe harbor" guidelines. Numerous other examples might be used to illustrate the law. In all instances, materials copied for classroom purposes must include a notice of copyright.
Case I
Perusing a journal in the library, a faculty member has discovered a copyrighted article which is highly relevant to a class she will be teaching in a few days. She does not have ample time to contact the publisher and obtain permission to make copies for a class of 35 students. The faculty member may, on a one-time basis, make these copies. However, subsequent use in another term would not usually be within the fair use principle. The decision to use the copyrighted work is "spontaneous" and so close in time to the class in which it would have maximum teaching effectiveness that any delay seeking permission would be unreasonable.
Case II
Several months in advance of the term a faculty member has gathered ten articles, from various journals and two book chapters, which are to be assigned as supplementary reading to a class. The faculty member may place two copies of the materials on reserve in the library and ask that classes read them during the term. If students make copies of said materials, such copying must be limited by fair use standards. The faculty member may not, without the publisher's permission, ask departmental staff to make multiple copies (anthologies) of the materials for circulation to the class members, even on a cost recovery basis only.
Case III
A faculty member has found material out of copyright and/or in the public domain (e.g., U.S. Government Publications). There are no limitations on copying for classroom use.
Case IV
A faculty member has found three articles (each less than 2500 words) from different issues of the same periodical and an essay of less than 2500 words from a collected work useful to a class currently being taught. It is within fair use practice to copy these for members of the class so long as it is for a single term, and copying of the same materials is not repeated in a later term. Further, the faculty member should not engage in more than nine instances of such copying during the term.
Case V
A faculty member has excerpted a section of a chapter from a work of fiction and heavily annotated it for purposes of illustration in a creative writing class. This would be legitimate use for classroom purposes under fair use even if copied for each class member.
Case VI
A faculty member has purchased a software program which is useful for doing a few class exercises. It is licensed for use on one machine. The faculty member may put a single copy on reserve for specified use in doing the exercises. The faculty member may not concurrently use the original copy, nor may students copy it for use on their own computers. Students should not only be warned that the software is copyrighted material but also that copying it is in violation of the law.
Case VII
A faculty member has, over a number of years, gathered materials, copied them as anthologies and distributed them to all members of the class with a prominent notice of copyright, but on a cost recovery basis. This is a perfectly legal use of copyrighted materials, so long as permission has been obtained in writing from the publishers for use of the materials and the faculty member has adhered strictly to the requirements of the publisher.
Case VIII
A faculty member who authored a text now out of print has decided to assign several core chapters for class reading. The chapters are copied and distributed by the faculty member to each member of the class. This is a violation of copyright. The faculty member assigned the copyright to the publisher and was remunerated with royalties. Authorship conveys no right to copy this material and the copyright is still in effect. Permission must be granted by the publisher for this copying to be legal since it is outside the fair use standard.
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