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Marygrove College Guide to Copyright Compliance

It is the intent of Marygrove College Library that all members of the college community adhere to the provisions of the United States Copyright Law (Title 17, United States Code, Sect. 101, et seq.). The following policy statements and guidelines constitute a manual for anyone at the College who wishes to reproduce works that are protected by copyright, or anyone wishing to place protected works on reserve in the library. Since copyright protection applies to a variety of creative works - printed materials, sound recordings, video recordings, visual artworks, computer software, and others - the manual has been constructed to address issues related to particular types of media.

Members of the Marygrove College community who willfully disregard the copyright policy do so at their own risk and assume all liability.

This guide covers the following:


What Is Copyright?

Copyright is a form of legal protection for authors of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual products. Publication is not essential for copyright protection, nor is the well known symbol of the encircled "c". Section 106 of the Copyright Act (90 Stat 2541) generally gives the owner of copyright exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

1. Reproduce copies of a work.

2. Prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work.

3. Distribute copies of the work by sale, rental, lease or lending.

4. Publicly perform the work (if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work or a pantomime, motion picture or audiovisual work).

5. Publicly display the work (if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, sculptural, graphic, or pictorial work - including the individual images of a film - or a pantomime).

The copyright owner retains these rights even when the work itself belongs to someone else. However, the rights are not absolute. They are subject to both "Fair Use" limitations, which apply to all media, and medium-specific limitations.  

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Fair Use in Higher Education

There are some limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright -- fair use being of major importance to educators. It is important for educators to evaluate their potential use of copyrighted materials against fair use provisions and to obtain permissions for uses that exceed them. Not all educational uses are fair uses!

To check to see if your material falls under fair use:

In addition, individual statutes make specific allowance for distance learning (see the TEACH Act), backup copies of software, and some reproductions made by libraries.

How to get copyright permission

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Course Packs and Course Management Systems (Blackboard)

Blackboard is meant for instructor and student created documents only.  When it comes to copyright, there is no difference between digital and paper-based environments. While CMSs often replace the use of coursepacks, classroom handouts and library reserves, traditional copyright rules still apply. If you need permission to use the content in paper format (such as the content available to multiple students in coursepacks), you almost certainly need it to use the content in an electronic format (such as the content available to multiple students through a CMS).

To clarify the copyright requirements for a CMS, consider the following guidelines:

  • Content uploaded by faculty, staff or others> – This is content not provided by the CMS vendor, that is added to the CMS. The institution must adhere to traditional copyright law in reproducing this content for use by multiple students. In general, if you need to obtain permission to use the content in paper format, you probably need permission to use it in electronic format as well.
  • Library-provided content – This is content that is licensed by library or institution license, and is available as part of its regular holdings or through subscriptions. Access to this content by faculty, students and others is governed by the license for the content. Review the current license carefully to determine what copyright permission is included, if any. In 2002, the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act became law. The TEACH Act has expanded the scope of fair use for the performance and display of copyright-protected materials in a distance education environment, including by means of a CMS.

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Print Materials (photocopies)

Single Copies
A single copy may be made for the purpose of study, scholarly research, or for use in teaching or preparation to teach a class:

  1. A chapter from a book;
  2. An article from a periodical or newspaper;
  3. A short story, short essay or short poem, whether or not from a collective work; or
  4. A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.

Multiple Copies for Classroom Use

The Brevity and Spontaneity Test: The copying must be at your inspiration, not required by your curriculum, must be brief in comparison to the length of the work, and the time between your decision to use the material and its actual use should be so close that it would be unreasonable to expect a reply to a request for permission.

The Cumulative Effect Test: The number of copies should not exceed the number of students in the one course for which the materials are intended, no other materials by the same author should be copied during the term, and there should be no more than nine instances of such copying during the term.  If these tests are met, you must still include a copyright notice citing the source on each copy, and make no charge for the material beyond the actual photocopying cost.   Remember that fair use copying should not be a substitute for the purchase of a book, periodical or reprint, should not be directed by a higher authority, nor repeated from term to term.

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Possible Solutions

Course Reserves
The purpose of the library’s course reserve service is to ensure that required course readings are readily available to students on an on-demand basis.  To ensure availability, the materials are removed from normal circulation and placed on reserve, restricting their circulation to periods of a few hours to overnight loan.

What can be put on reserve?  Any library material or personally owned materials that (a) comply with copyright legislation and (b) are required reading for a course the instructor is teaching.

The library strongly recommends that faculty place on reserve copies of any items that are expected to be heavily used.  This is to minimize the danger of the library’s resources from being stolen or vandalized. 

Provide citations
Provide the students citations of items that are not readily available online, especially if the items are housed in the Marygrove College Library.

Stable links to full text articles
The library provides several databases with access to full text material.  Stable links can be provided for posting in blackboard for student use.  This content has been granted copyright approval for student use.

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Plagiarism

Resource for educators: Plagiarism.org

Where to go for help with student plagiarism: Plagiarism Stoppers: A Teacher's Guide

Anti-plagiarism strategies: VirtualSalt

Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University: How to recognize and avoid plagiarism

Student guide from UC-Davis Student Judicial Affairs: Avoiding Plagiarism: Mastering the Art of Scholarship

Plagiarism service: Turnitin 
Recognized worldwide as the standard in online plagiarism prevention, Turnitin helps educators and students take full advantage of the internet's educational potential

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Links to Copyright Resources

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