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Inside Furman is published monthly during the school year by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
Photocopy
or criminal evidence?
Furman copy
center customers need to be aware of copyright law
Five cents is a meager sum. But an unauthorized photocopy made from spare change could result in a pricey lawsuit against the university - for copyright violation.
Members of the Furman community - faculty, staff and student - make more than a million copies each year. That's a stack of paper roughly 350 feet high, or the length of a football field - including the end zones.
One would think that facts on copyright law would be abundant. But most people seem content to be uninformed.
A copyright is a form of legal protection given to authors and creators of original works. The copyright holder must give consent to third parties if more than one reproduction is being made. Written permission by most professional copy companies is required to avoid illegal activity.
Some restricted materials may be copied only within the boundaries of either black and white or reduced and enlarged sizes. Examples of these are birth certificates, drivers' licenses, postage stamps and currency. If found in violation of any laws, the culprit could be forced into a pricey lawsuit.
Melvin Cureton, Coordinator of Printing Services, says, "There haven't been any issues with [copyright violations] but they have been abused."
He recommends that, if a professor isn't certain of copyright laws for an article, one legal copy can be made and placed on reserve in the library for students to check out. Copyright laws also pertain to Furman's efforts to access inter-library items.
Laura Baker, an employee of the library's Document Delivery system, says only five articles from the same journal throughout a five-year span can legitimately be photocopied and sent to Furman without royalty fees.
After the limit has been met, Furman pays for additional access through a company called Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., to ensure the legality of all exchanges. Requested materials are tracked, and some journals may be added to the library's collection if it is financially efficient.
Further information regarding specific regulatory terms can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office's Web site at www.loc.gov/copyright.
Maybe you were aware of the complex rules. Maybe, like most, you weren't. But the next time you throw some change into a copy machine, be sure your copyright facts are as straight as the item that's lying face down.
by Katie Dickens