The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library provides access to print and other electronic resources, including Internet, free and subscription-based electronic resources and electronic course reserves. These resources are provided for scholarly research, instruction and non-commercial use. By using these resources, all library users agree to abide to the copyright, terms and conditions of each resource. Unauthorized use or access to the AUC Woodruff Library's electronic resources may result in suspension of library privileges. In addition, individuals found liable for copyright infringement may be subject to substantial statutory damages in excess of $30,000 (17USC504, http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html)
Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.
Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section "What Works Are Protected."
Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use. Section 107 calls for consideration of the following four factors in evaluating a question of fair use:
In addition to the above, other factors may also be considered by a court in weighing a fair use question, depending upon the circumstances. Courts evaluate fair use claims on a case-by-case basis, and the outcome of any given case depends on a fact-specific inquiry. This means that there is no formula to ensure that a predetermined percentage or amount of a work—or specific number of words, lines, pages, copies—may be used without permission.
Students both use and create copyrightable works and should consider how to use other people’s works and how they would like their works to be used. It is not always necessary to gain permission from a copyright holder to use a work. Within copyright law are various exceptions, one of which is mentioned in the column to the left in this guide, Fair Use.
If you need to use works for reasons that are no longer educational, or the amount of the work that you wish to use is beyond what would be supported by fair use, or you would like to use the work for commercial purposes, then you need to ask permission from the owner of the copyright.
Photocopying
Here are some general rules;
The third factor of fair use, "The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole" clearly shows that the law does not encourage you photocopying an entire textbook that is under copyright. By doing so, you also negate the fourth factor "The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work" because the author, or copyright holder is arguably being robbed of possible revenue because of your copying of the entire work. This is further outlined in Circular 21 page 7 where it states that copying should not be used to replace collective works, or be from workbooks, test booklets and answer sheets, or media that is being copied to substitute purchase of music.
Work Created by Students
In your daily life you create videos, photographs, blogs, emails, and you own the copyright to these things. Throughout the course of your studies, you also create copyrightable works. Some are more obviously creative such as poems, fiction, and artwork. But there will also be works such as class notes, papers, and group projects that may result in PowerPoint creations. All of these are copyrighted. An exception may be in classes where materials are shared between students or provided by the school, such as art classes. In those cases, check with your instructor whether you own your creations.
Now that you know that you own copyrighted material, think about how you would want your classmates, and later your colleagues to respect your rights.
Theses and Dissertations
One of the most important things created by students will be their Thesis/Dissertation.
A thesis/dissertation is automatically copyright protected but you may also chose to register it.
The owner of the thesis is responsible for deciding how it is copied, modified, displayed and performed publicly.
Copyright belongs to the author automatically whether it is registered or not however if you find that someone has infringed on your copyright and you want to sue them and collect monetary damages, you can only collect damages back to the date of the official registration. Most dissertations are being published in ProQuest or in Open Access areas which have their own terms. You should carefully read any contract that you sign. You may want to retain the right to use chapters or passages for further scholarly work such as e-reserves for a course you are teaching, or presenting at a conference you are attending, or even following up with a book on the same topic.
Students can also use Creative Commons licenses to decide how the public will gain access to and use their copyrighted works. Creative Commons has six main licenses with varying degrees of usability such as allowing others to tweak and build on your work as long as they give you credit, or as long as they license their works the same way you did yours.
Print Reserves:
Electronic Reserves:
There are no set rules for the amount of a work used when evaluating fair use however the following guidelines are based on the minimum standards established under Section 107 of H.R. 2223 by the Ad Hoc Committee on Copyright Law Revision.
Guidelines for single copying of books and periodicals
Guidelines for multiple copies for classroom use
