COPYRIGHT MYTHS

The fair-use exceptions to copyright law are complex and must be examined in each case in which one person's work includes a portion of another's work.

Questions commonly heard around campus include

How much may I copy?

How many minutes of a movie may I put up on the web?

How many copies of that article may I make?

Unless permission is obtained from the copyright owner, the following examples are most likely violations of the United States copyright laws.

"Everyone I know downloads MPEG files to burn their own CDs. I don't see why I shouldn't be able to also."

Even though music files are easily available electronically, that doesn't mean they aren't covered by copyright law just as much as anything that appears in print, on the radio or on television.

"I found it on the Internet. I work for a university, so it's OK for me to copy that picture for my class syllabus."

Works disseminated electronically are protected by copyright law just as much as anything that appears in print, on the radio or on television. Further, just because you are an employee of or student at a university does NOT automatically give you the right to use something that is copyrighted.

"I really want my students to read chapters 3, 17, 21 and 32 of this book. But, it's so expensive. Rather than have them buy it, I'll just scan those four chapters and publish them on the web."

University faculty, students and staff do not have the right to copy whatever they want for academic purposes.

A faculty member could check with the library to determine if the material can be provided via electronic reserve. If this material could not be provided under fair use, the library can inquire whether the publisher may allow access, or in some cases, negotiate the rights to put this information in the Library Electronic Reserve Room.

When information is put on reserve, the library makes certain that doing so abides by copyright law, even if royalties must be paid for the material's use. However, some publishers allow all forms of electronic distribution.

Another option is to contact the copyright holder well in advance and pay for the use of the material. Similarly, if you submit the material to a commercial copy service well in advance, that service can arrange to pay the appropriate copyright fee on your behalf.

"Who cares? No one will find out I have a Dilbert cartoon on my web page."

More and more publishers are indeed cruising the web looking for copyright violations. In fact, some are even writing computer programs that search the web for text, sound files, movie clips and graphic files that violate their copyright protection.

 "I wrote this article for that publication. Of course, I can put it up on my lab's web page."

You need to check: Does your contract with the publisher assign that company the copyright to your work? Do you own the rights or the on-campus rights?