Journal Article for Classroom Use
SCENARIO 1: A professor copies one article from a periodical for distribution to the class.
ALLOWED? Yes. Distribution of multiple copies for classroom use is fair use.
Journal Article for Personal Use
SCENARIO 2: A professor wishes to make a copy of an article from a copyrighted periodical for her files to use later.
ALLOWED? Yes. This is a classic example of personal fair use so long as the professor uses the article for her personal files and reference.
Posting Copyrighted Article to Web Page
SCENARIO 3: A professor has posted his class notes on a web page available to the public. He wants to scan an article from a copyrighted journal and add it to his web page.
ALLOWED? No, if access is open to the public, then this use is probably not a fair use. If access to the web page is restricted, then it is more likely to be fair use.
Uploading an Article from the Library to Canvas
SCENARIO 4: An instructor wants her students to read an article from a peer-reviewed article. She accesses the full text of the article as a PDF through the library's databases, saves it to her computer and uploads it to Canvas for students to download.
ALLOWED? It depends. Since the instructor obtained the article from a library-licensed electronic resource she needs to understand general limitations and restrictions on use that may be contained in the license agreement between the publisher and the library. The terms of such license agreements control how the materials may be used. Whenever possible, instructors should make articles available to students through direct links to the library's database, as librarians use the number of users to access materials to make decisions about retaining resources.
Posting Readings
SCENARIO 5: An instructor scans excerpts from journals, textbooks, and various other sources and creates PDF files of all of the readings. The instructor places all the readings online in Canvas.
ALLOWED? The instructor must conduct a four-factor analysis for each journal article, each textbook section, and any other work she wishes to include in Canvas. Only those items falling under fair use should be uploaded to Canvas.
Textbooks
SCENARIO 6: A textbook hasn't arrived for the first week of the term. The professor wishes to place the first chapter online for her students to read.
ALLOWED? Yes. A single chapter from a textbook is most likely fair use, especially when access is restricted to the students in a course. Copying more than one chapter may not be fair.
SCENARIO 7: A professor wishes to use a textbook he considers to be too expensive. He makes copies of the book for the class.
ALLOWED? No. Although the use is educational, by providing entire copies to his students, the professor is clearly interfering with the marketing monopoly of the copyright owner. The professor should place a copy on reserve in the library or require the students to purchase the book.
Public Domain Materials
SCENARIO 8: A teacher copies a Shakespearian play from a copyrighted anthology.
ALLOWED? Yes. The play is in the public domain and not subject to copyright protection.
Out-of-Print Book
SCENARIO 9: A library has a book that is out of print and unavailable. The book is an important one in the professor's field that she needs for her research. The professor would like to copy the book for her files.
ALLOWED? Yes. This is another example of personal use. If one engages in the fair use analysis, one finds that: (1) the purpose of the use is educational versus commercial; (2) the professor is using the book, a creative work, for research purposes; (3) copying the entire book would normally exceed the bounds of fair use, however, since the book is out of print and no longer available from any other source, the copying is acceptable; (4) finally, the copying will have no impact on the market for the book because the book is no longer available from any other source.
SCENARIO 10: Using the same facts as explained in SCENARIO 9 could the professor copy the book and place the book on reserve in the library?
ALLOWED? The professor should place the book itself on reserve in the library.
Scenarios based on those found on Omaha Public Schools' "Copyright Guide for Educators." Used with permission.
Documents icon designed by Alex Auda Samora from the Noun Project.
Showing a Video for Classroom Instruction
SCENARIO 11: An instructor wishes to show a copyrighted motion picture to her class for instructional purposes.
ALLOWED? Yes. Section 110(1) of U.S. Copyright Law allows faculty, for the purpose of instruction, to do the following:
Show a film
Perform or listen to a piece of music
Perform, or show, a play
Show slides or other images
CAVEAT: The instructor must use a legally obtained copy of the work, and there must be a pedagogical purpose for the use.
Copying a Video for Classroom Instruction
SCENARIO 12: An instructor makes a copy of the movie described in SCENARIO 11 for a colleague to show in her class at the same time.
ALLOWED? No. Copying the movie is not allowed, but the instructor may lend her personal copy of the movie to a colleague for this purpose.
Showing a Video for Non-Classroom Use
SCENARIO 13: A University-sponsored club wants to show a film and invite members of the public to the showing.
ALLOWED? It depends. If the club purchases public performance rights (PPR) for the film, they can screen the film for an outside audience, according to the license terms. Clubs using Hamersly Library's materials should check with the library to determine if the work was purchased with PPR for this purpose.
Scenarios based on those found on Omaha Public Schools' "Copyright Guide for Educators." Used with permission.
Video icon designed by Simple Icons from the Noun Project.
Classroom Presentation
SCENARIO 14: A teacher or student prepares and gives a presentation that displays photographs. Permission was not obtained to use the photographs.
ALLOWED? Yes. Section 110(1) of U.S. Copyright Law allows instructors and students to perform and display copyrighted works as part of their educational projects or presentations for instruction in a classroom setting. There is no need to do a fair use anlysis for this.
CAVEAT: The copyrighted works must be legally obtained.
Transmission of Classroom Presentation
What if the presentation incorporating the photographs discussed in SCENARIO 14 is uploaded to Blackboard or broadcast to a distant classroom?
ALLOWED? Yes. This use would be considered fair use, as long as the presentation has a pedagogical purpose and access is restricted to students currently enrolled in the course.
Videotaping of Classroom Presentation
What if the instructor's or student's presentation explained in SCENARIO 14 is videotaped?
ALLOWED? Yes. This use would be considered fair use, if the videotape is used for educational purposes such as student review or if the videotape is for instruction.
CAVEAT: Students' privacy must be considered; releases should be obtained for use outside the original classroom.
Use of Music as Background in Classroom Presentation
SCENARIO 15: A teacher or student creates a presentation and incorporates copyrighted music into the background. Assume that permission was not obtained to use the music for the presentation. Can the music be included in the teacher's or student's presentation?
ALLOWED? It depends. If the music has a pedagogical purpose, it may be incorporated into the presentation. Music included in a presentation to "set the mood" or purely for aesthetic purposes should generally not be used without permission.
CAVEAT: Use only the amount needed for the pedagogical purpose.
Use of Music as Content in Classroom Presentation
SCENARIO 16: A professor teaches an opera course, and the professor creates a presentation. The presentation contains the works of ten contemporary artists and is presented to a new class every semester.
ALLOWED? Yes, as long as the use of the presentation continues to have a pedagogical purpose.
CAVEAT: Use only the amount needed for the pedagogical purpose.
Transmission of Presentation with Use of Music as Content or Background
The opera classroom presentation (SCENARIO 16) or the presentation containing background music (SCENARIO 15) is uploaded to Canvas or transmitted to a distant classroom.
ALLOWED? Yes, so long as access is restricted to students currently enrolled in the course.
Scenarios based on those found on Omaha Public Schools' "Copyright Guide for Educators." Used with permission.
Multimedia icon designed by Patrick Morrison from the Noun Project.