171.1 Copyright Laws and Educational Fair Use

171.1 Copyright Laws and Educational Fair Use

A. Background

Furman University personnel need to be familiar with copyright law and the scope of educational fair use. These laws define what can and what cannot be legally photocopied, scanned, or otherwise reproduced in an educational setting

B. Policy

Faculty, staff and other Furman University employees are to adhere to the best of their understanding to the intent and provisions of the current United States copyright law. Each individual is responsible for seeing that he or she does not knowingly violate the law.

C. Guidelines

1. The term of copyright protection for material copyrighted after January 1, 1978, is the life of the author plus fifty (50) years. All intellectual property is effectively copyrighted from the moment it is completed.

2. Copyright protection extends to all printed materials, literary works; musical works, including words; dramatic works, including any music; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; sound recordings; and computer files and software.

3. The copyright holder has exclusive rights in the copyrighted material: to reproduce; to prepare derivative works; to distribute; and in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform publicly. The scope of exclusive rights in sound recordings and certain other materials is limited to some extent. A "non-profit" institution is not exempted from any of the above "rights."

4. Limitations on these exclusive rights include a "fair use" clause and permission for libraries to copy under certain circumstances, chiefly for interlibrary lending purposes.

5. Unless prior permission has been granted by the copyright holder, the standards of brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect apply to placing copies of material on reserve, and the library will enforce these restrictions. Without copyright permission, no copied item can be put on reserve for more than on term.

6. Faculty members may obtain copyright permission from the Copyright Clearance Center via the University Bookstore or directly from copyright holders, generally the publisher of the material.

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