Copyright: Law, Policies, & Procedures
Copyright Law, Policies, and Procedures
Introduction
Copyright Law: What is Protected
Copyright Law: Rights of the Copyright Holder
Copyright Law: Fair Use Limitation on Copyright Holders' Exclusive Rights
Application of Copyright Law at UST
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
TEACH Act (Copyright & Distance Education)
Obtaining Permission from the Copyright Holder
Introduction
The information contained in this policy is intended to assist the University of St. Thomas community in its adherence to U.S. copyright laws. Information is included regarding the duplication of digital and written works, computer software, video, films, and other intellectual property.
Copyright Law: What is protected
The U.S. Constitution, in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 established in Congress the power to pass laws to protect intellectual property:
The Congress shall have Power. . . To promote the Progress of Science and Useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
Congress passed the last significant revision to copyright law in 1976, with some adjustments made since that time. Section 102 of Title 17 Copyrights defines what is being protected:
(a) Copyright protection subsists . . . in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories:(1) literary works;(2) musical works, including any accompanying music;
(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
(4) pantomines and choreographic works;
(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
(7) sound recordings; and
(8) architectural works.(b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.
Section 105 excludes copyright protection for works created by the U.S. Government.
Copyright Law: Rights of the copyright holder
Section 106 defines the rights of copyright holders.
". . . the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
(4) in the case of literary,musical,dramatic, and choreographic works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly; and
(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomines, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly."
Copyright Law: Fair Use Limitation on Copyright Holder's Exclusive Rights
Section 107 provides an exception to the exclusive rights of the copyright holder:
". . . the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include-(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.The fact that that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use is such finding is made upon consideration of all of the above factors."
Guidelines for the fair use of copyrighted works have been created by publishers, authors, and educational institution representatives at the request of Congress to further define fair use and to assist users of copyrighted material in determining whether a particular use was an act of copyright infringement or was acceptable under fair use. These are only guidelines, rather than law, but represent a reasonable interpretation of the law.
Case law indicates that a use made for nonprofit educational purposes doesn't necessarily mean a use is fair. All four factors must be applied to a factual situation to determine if a use is fair. A single copy made for personal use is considered fair use.
Summary and Application of Copyright Law at UST
Applying the above information (particularly the fair use criteria), the users of copyrighted material must make their own determination of how copyright law fits the intended use. This policy and the accompanying Decision Tools are designed to assist the user in making this determination. Also, note the included policies and procedures for various departments on campus governing copyright in their areas.
A user must first determine if the material being copied or publicly displayed has copyright protection. The definition in Section 102 is very broad. Note that copyrights do expire after the death of the author plus 70 years at which time works fall into the public domain. Prior to January 1, 1978 copyrighted works were required to contain copyright notices on them. If not, there is no copyright protection.
If material is protected by copyright, then the fair use criteria should be applied, including the elements in the Guidelines, if appropriate.
If fair use is not established, the user must obtain permission to copy from the copyright holder. This can usually be done through the Copyright Clearance Center or by submitting the appropriate forms to the publisher. See the appropriate information in this policy.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
This act is designed to extend U.S. copyright protection to material created in other countries that would have fallen into the public domain here. It also proscribes devices or services that are intended to circumvent technological measures that are used by authors to protect their works (with some exceptions).
Of primary importance in this law is the limitation of liability for online service providers. The University of St. Thomas is an online service provider and has elected to take advantage of this limitation of liability. We are required under the DMCA to appoint an agent to receive notification of claimed infringement from the copyright holder. This would occur where infringing copies are posted on the University's computer network. The University's agent is:
Chris Gregg
IRT
Mail AQU 320
University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55105
(651) 962-6265
Upon receipt of notification of the infringement claim, the material will be removed from the network immediately. In addition, to receive the limitation of liability protection, the University must not have any prior knowledge of the infringing activity and must not be receiving a financial benefit from it.
Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002
In 2002, Congress passed and the President signed into law the TEACH Act, which liberalized the provisions of section 110 of the Copyright law as it applies to the fair use of copyrighted materials in distance education. The revisions expanded the type of works allowed for display or performance, the permissible locations for viewing them, provisions for digitization, storage, and access in the context of institutions providing distance education for their students. For more information, see the IUPUI Libraries page on Copyright and Distance Education.
Obtaining Permission from the Copyright Holder
Once it has been established that a planned use of a copyrighted item is not a fair use, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder. This means contacting the copyright holder and requesting permission to copy or publicly display the work. Royalties may have to be paid to obtain permission. For printed works, particularly periodical articles, the Copyright Clearance Center provides this service and can be contacted directly from this site. For other works, the owner would have to be sought out and asked using the form (USTG1233) located on this website.
Disclaimer:
The information included in these pages is intended to assist the
University of St. Thomas community in complying with federal copyright statues and guidelines. While the university strives to provide accurate information in these pages, the ultimate responsibility for complying with the law rests with individual students, faculty and staff.
Comments, questions, or feedback may be directed to copyright@stthomas.edu
