62-03 Copyright

Procedure Description

What follows is Florence-Darlington Technical College's procedure for printing (or copying) of copyrighted materials.

Florence-Darlington Technical (FDTC) licenses the use of a variety of computer software. The unauthorized use of software, however, is a violation of the U. S. copyright Law. FDTC does not condone the illegal duplication or use of computer software. Employees who fail to use software in accordance with licensing agreements or who make unauthorized copies of professional or personal use will be disciplined in accordance with the college's policy for disciplinary action.

Fair Use makes special allowances for educators to use copyrighted materials in classroom and research without permission. Conditions of fair use for educators include the requirement that the educator must be employed by a non-profit institution and it is applied to research or classroom use.

Fair use uses four main factors to determine if the copyrighted material is being used appropriately.

• Purpose and character of the use

• Nature of the copyrighted work

• Amount and substantiality

• Effect on work's value

A single copy may be made of any of the following by or for a teacher at his or her individual request for his or her scholarly research or use in teaching or preparation to teach a class:

• A chapter from a book

• An article from a periodical or newspaper

• A short story, short essay or short poem whether or not from a collective work

• A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper

A teacher may make one copy of copyrighted material for each student in his/her class, provided that such copying meets the tests of brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect. Each copy must include a notice of copyright.

Prohibitions:

• An entire book, collective work, journal, or periodical volume, regardless of its print status

• Workbooks, tests, and answer sheets

• When planning in advance to distribute a number of different works in a course pack or course reader. If you need assistance printing a course pack, please consult with your Department Chair.

Definitions:

Brevity Guidelines:

• Poetry: Complete poem of less than 250 words excerpts of not more than 250 words

• Prose: Complete article, story, or essay of less than 2,500 words; excerpt of not more than 10% from longer works

• Illustration: One map, chart, graph, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue

Spontaneity Guidelines:

• The decision to use the work is at the inspiration of the individual teacher and the time between the decision to use the work and the most effective use of the work in the classroom must be so close that obtaining copyright permission would not be feasible.

Cumulative Effect Guidelines:

• The copying is only for one course and will be used for just once class term.

• Not more than one short poem, article, story, or essay, may be copied from the same author.

• Not more than two excerpts may be copied from the same author.

• Not more than three poems, articles, stories, essays, or excerpts from the same collective work or periodical volume.

• Multiple copying is limited to nine instances per class during one term.

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Posting an item to an LMS does not exempt faculty from copyright regulations. Faculty will need to consider how copyright and fair use factor into the content they share with students in the LMS. It is preferable to link out to external content that you do not own the copyright for, and this is not typically considered a copyright infringement because you are not creating a duplicate copy of the copyrighted work. The Print Shop will not print copyrighted materials (that exceed the guidelines mentioned) unless the person requesting the copies obtains verbal permission (with written permission to follow) from the publisher or the owner of the copyright. Questions about the printing or copying of copyrighted materials should be directed to the FDTC Director of Libraries for their opinions as to the legality of your request.