Questions & Answers on Copyright for the Campus Community

Although copying all or part of a work without obtaining permission may appear to be an easy and convenient solution to an immediate problem, such unauthorized copying may violate the rights of the author or publisher of the copyrighted work, and be directly contrary to the academic mission to teach respect for ideas and the intellectual property that expresses those ideas. Without understanding the copyright law, including elements such as the doctrine of "fair use" and its application and limitations in the educational setting, faculty members, students, centers, college stores, universities, colleges and others will be at risk for engaging in illegal copying.

This information is intended to aid you in conforming to the requirements of U.S. copyright law by providing an easy-to-understand guide. This guide, in question-and-answer format, presents a current overview of relevant sections of the Copyright Act, including:

• The requirements for protection of copyrighted works from unrestricted copying;
• The doctrine of fair use and its limitations;
• Issues pertaining to software and the Internet;
• Procedures on how to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material;
• Information on e-reserves and how principles of “fair use” apply;
• Summaries of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and TEACH Act;
• Guidelines on ADA-compliant requests

The goal of this booklet, co-sponsored by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), Association of American University Presses (AAUP), Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), National Association of College Stores (NACS), and Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), is to clarify the issues and present information and procedures that will result in greater understanding of the rules governing use of copyrighted works and facilitate the permissions process.

This booklet may be viewed as complementary to Campus Copyright Rights and Responsibilities: A Basic Guide to Policy Considerations (2006), co-sponsored by the AAP, AAUP, Association of American Universities (AAU), and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Authors Guild. That 30-page document, which is accessible at the web sites of the sponsoring organizations, is intended to set forth these groups' "common understanding regarding the basic meaning and practical significance of copyright for the higher education community" in order to facilitate the formulation and implementation of copyright policies at universities. In contrast, this much shorter booklet aims to provide an easy-to-understand guide for users of copyrighted material who need to solve practical problems in their daily lives.

Notice: This publication is protected by copyright law. It may, however, be reproduced or quoted without prior permission as long as the following acknowledgment is included:

"This material has been reprinted from Questions and Answers on Copyright for the Campus Community, Copyright ©2006, Association of American Publishers Inc., Association of American University Presses, Copyright Clearance Center Inc., National Association of College Stores Inc., and the Software & Information Industry Association."

Printed booklet copies of Questions and Answers on Copyright for the Campus Community are available in the NACS Store.

A 12-minute videotape entitled, A Shared Set of Values—Copyright and Intellectual Property in the Academic Community, designed to increase copyright awareness and stimulate discussion among students on this important issue, is available for purchase from the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

Introduction | Q&A Concerning Copying Print and Digital Works | Obtaining Permission to Copy
Obtaining Electronic Formats From Publishers | Guidelines for Classroom Copying
Details on Kinko's and Michigan Document Services Cases | Credits