Copyright Law stimulates the development of creative works by protecting the author's rights to that work, including the right to receive financial remuneration from the reproduction and distribution of that work. In general Copyright Law protects literary works, musical works, dramatic works, choreographic works, artistic works, audiovisual works, sound recordings, and software. Copyright Law gives the copyright owner the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, modify, and publicly display the works.
Use of copyrighted materials by educators is governed by the statute itself, and by guidelines that have been developed to interpret the Fair Use exception that is set forth in the statute. The responsibility for following copyright law and securing copyright clearance rests with the individual faculty member requesting the service.
Copyright in the Library
The provisions for Library copying are found in Section 108 of the Copyright Law.
1. There cannot be any commercial advantage resulting from making a copy and the copy must bear the notice that the material copied has been copyrighted.
2. It is possible to reproduce a copy of a published work for the purpose of replacement of material that is damaged, deteriorating, lost or stolen if it has been owned by the Library and after a reasonable effort has been made to obtain a duplicate copy if a replacement copy cannot be obtained at a fair price.
3. Copies can be made from items in a library for a user at their request if not more than one article, or other part of a copyrighted collection, periodical, or recording is involved provided that the copy becomes the property of the user and the copy will not be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research.
4. The library must prominently display, at the place where orders for copies are taken or copies are made, a warning of copyright infringement and that the use of the items copied must be only the use indicated above.
5. There shall be no liability for copyright infringement upon the institution or its employees for unsupervised use of various types of reproductive equipment located on its premises, provided that such equipment displays a notice that making such a copy shall be subject to copyright law.
6. The person making the copy for their use has the liability for determining whether or not use of the copy fits the criteria for Fair Use as described in Section 107 of the Copyright Law.
7. The law specifically states that permissions given in Section 108 does not include any musical work, pictorial, graphic or sculptural work, motion pictures or other audiovisual works.
Public Performance Rights
The LCC Library does not purchase public performance rights when it acquires or borrows videocassettes or DVDs, so a copyrighted film may not be shown to groups of students or staff unless it meets the criteria which define a “face-to-face teaching” exemption to copyright law. This exemption allows for legally reproduced work to be used only:
- in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, and
- in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution, and
- as long as there is no direct or indirect admission charge, and
- if it is a regular part of the instructional activities, and
- if it is directly related to the teaching content
Anyone who checks out copyrighted films from the Lane Community College Library, for use in a public performance setting, must abide by the provisions of the face-to-face teaching exemption.
For a fuller explanation and interpretation of copyright law and policy at LCC, please see the College Online Policy and Procedure System (Copyrighted Materials: Reproduction) For additional helpful hints regarding fair use, please consult Copyright Law and Guidelines for LCC Teachers.