Copyright & CLU

CLU complies with all copyright regulations. All clients are also expected to abide by copyright law. To facilitate compliance, ISS has created specific policies for the campus community to follow. A general overview of academic copyright is found at the Copyright Clearance Center Web site and is entitled The Campus Guide to Copyright Compliance. This site explains the various sections of the Copyright Act as it applies to academic institutions: Another useful source is entitled Questions & Answers on Copyright for the Campus Community, which provides answers to specific copyright scenarios:

Multiple Copies for Classroom Use

A faculty member may make multiple copies (not exceeding more than one copy per student in a course) for classroom use providing that the copying:

  • Meets the brevity test by being less than 2,500 words
  • Meets the test of spontaneity—done within a reasonable time period (The decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission)
  • Meets the cumulative effect test (the content is relevant to the course being taught)
  • Includes a copyright notice on each copy.
    (Wright, n.d.)

Library Photocopying & Printing

All books and journals are subject to copyright law. One copy of an article from a library journal is permitted for personal use. If more than one copy is required, one must seek permission from the journal publisher. The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) provides additional guidance on this subject in a discussion of Copyright and Photocopies.

Students are permitted to use library printers to produce one copy of a document for personal use. Printers are not to be used for making class handouts (e.g., multiple copies of PowerPoint handouts or papers). Students should be referred to the Printing Services department if they need to create class handouts.

ERes/WebCT Guidelines for Faculty

Course management software such as ERes and WebCT entail specific issues and compliance requirements. This section reviews these regulations as they pertain to the use of ERes and WebCT. For a general overview, see the CCC document entitled Using Electronic Reserves

ERes is an electronic reserves system that allows instructors to post documents on the Web for their students to access anytime from any Internet-connected computer.

WebCT is a course management appplication with functionality similar to ERes.

All e-reserve pages that contain material protected by copyright law must be password protected and that password may be made available only to CLU students enrolled in that course. Access must be terminated at the end of the semester. Content must be archived at the end of the semester. Items which do not require copyright permission (i.e., not copyright protected) are:

  • Exams, and homework solutions
  • Lecture notes and syllabi
  • U.S. Government publications
  • Works in the public domain

Materials that fall under "fair use" do not require copyright permission, but they do require a notice of copyright (Section 108 United States Code Title 17). These materials should also include an appropriate citation. These items are:

  • A single article from a journal or periodical
  • A single chapter from a book
  • A short story, essay or poem from a collected work
  • A short excerpt (no more than 10% of the total) of a longer work, not divided into chapters or articles
  • Material where the instructor is the copyright holder

Materials that do not fall within "fair use" will require copyright permission. These items are:

  • An article from a journal or periodical that is to be used for more than one semester or articles that are used for an individual course taught in multiple sections by many instructors
  • More than one article from a journal or periodical issue
  • A chapter of a book used for more than one semester
  • Multiple chapters of a book

ERes courses not being reused after two years need to be deleted by the faculty member.

The library staff is available to assist faculty in determining if CLU has access to an article via one of its electronic databases, thus enabling the use of a link for an item where the aggregator has already been granted copyright permission and pays royalty fees. These links may stay on a page indefinitely.

A sample copyright notice might read: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproduction of copyright materials or This material may be protected by copyright.

Because ERes does provide a copyright statement before a student can click through to an article, additional notice of copyright is optional.