ERROL and Copyright at IUPUI

A Project of the
IUPUI Copyright Management Center
&
IUPUI University Library

Kenneth D. Crews, Associate Dean of the Faculties for Copyright Management
David Wong, Senior Copyright Analyst
Patrick Okorodudu, Esq. UITS Copyright Coordinator

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
530 West New York Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
Voice: 317-274-4400 Fax: 317-278-3326
http://www.copyright.iupui.edu

Introduction

What is "Fair Use"?

How Does Fair Use Apply to ERROL?

1. Purpose of the Use
2. Nature of the Work
3. Amount of the Work
4. Effect on the Market for the Original

Permission to Post Materials

Alternative Methods of Information Delivery

1. Provide Links to Materials for Students
2. Oncourse
3. Traditional Coursepacks
4. Requiring Students to Purchase Materials

Introduction
Placing articles and other materials on ERROL, the electronic-reserve system of the IUPUI University Library, raises challenging questions about copyright.1 ERROL was created in furtherance of the university’s commitment to actively seek making a wide range of materials readily available to students enrolled in classes at IUPUI, but the materials must be provided within the context and limits of copyright law.

Current copyright law gives legal protection to nearly all readings and other course materials that an instructor might place on an electronic delivery system.2 Materials may be offered on such systems only if:

1. The instructor is the copyright owner of the material, ³ or
2. The copyright owner of the material grants permission, or
3. The use of the material is a "fair use" under the law, or
4. The material is in the public domain,⁴ or
5. The material falls within another statutory exception.⁵

This document is a guide to understanding concepts of fair use as they may apply to electronic reserves. From these principles, the IUPUI University Library has developed the IUPUI University Library Course Reserve Policies.

What is "Fair Use"?
Fair use is a legal doctrine that allows the public to make limited uses of copyrighted works without permission. For information about fair use at IUPUI and Indiana University, see:Copyright Management Center: Fair-Use Issues.

Fair use may not be what you expect. Simple, clean, concise rules do not exist in the law of fair use. For example: Do not assume that a nonprofit, educational use is inherently fair use. Do not assume that giving credit for the source of the work inherently creates a fair use. Do not assume that limiting access to materials to students in the class inherently creates a fair use. On the other hand, proper application of fair use can prove to be extremely beneficial to the instructor, the students, and the educational process as a whole.

How Does Fair Use Apply to ERROL?
The following are general standards suggested by the IUPUI Copyright Management Center to give fair use some practical application. Instructors and others at IUPUI who are using methods of electronic delivery of materials other than ERROL should also consider these standards when evaluating whether their activities are within fair use.

Fair use depends on a balancing of four factors outlined in the copyright statutes. These factors may be addressed by a variety of means. Listed below with each factor are some suggestions that may be helpful in conducting fair-use analyses. Because each situation will be different, instructors must also consider other possibilities and weigh them in the balance for each fair-use determination. One need not necessarily take every possible precaution and satisfy all four of the statutory factors; hence, some adjusting of the implementation of the following procedure may still keep your activities within the boundaries of permitted use. For a set of scenarios applying the factors of fair use, see: Common Scenarios of Fair Use Issues: Posting Materials on Learning Management Systems.

1. Purpose of the Use
• Materials should be placed on ERROL only for the purpose of serving the needs of specified educational programs.
• Materials should be placed on ERROL only at the specific request of the instructor.
• Access to materials should be limited by password or other means to deter unauthorized access beyond students enrolled in the specific course for which the materials are needed.
• Students should not be charged specifically or directly for access to materials placed on ERROL, and no person or unit at the university should benefit monetarily from the use of the material.

2. Nature of the Work
• Only those portions of the work relevant to the educational objectives of the course should be placed on ERROL.
• The law of fair use applies more narrowly to highly creative works; accordingly, the library may choose not to accept for ERROL substantial excerpts from novels, short stories, poetry, modern art images, and other such materials.
• Instructors should carefully review uses of “consumable” materials such as test forms and workbook pages.

3. Amount of the Work
• Materials placed on ERROL will generally be limited to brief works or brief excerpts from longer works. Examples: a single chapter from a book, individual articles from a journal, and individual news articles.
• The amount of the work placed on ERROL should be related directly to the educational objectives of the course.

4. Effect of the Use on the Market for the Original
• Materials placed on ERROL should include a citation to the original source of publication and a form of a copyright notice. For suggested forms of the notice, see:Copyright Management Center: Copyright Notices for Supervised Library Copying. The electronic reserve system should also advise users that the materials are made available exclusively for use by students enrolled in the course and must not be distributed beyond that limited group.
• Access to materials should be limited by password or other means to deter unauthorized access beyond students enrolled in the specific course for which the specific materials are needed.⁶
• ERROL should not include any material unless the instructor, the library, or another unit of the educational institution possesses a lawfully obtained copy.
• Materials on reserve should not include works that are reasonably available and affordable for students to purchase—whether as a book, coursepack, or other format.

Fair use may apply more liberally to works that are “out of Print.”

The Library will make reasonable efforts to purchase any materials required for teaching needs.

Permission to Post Material
The University Library will ordinarily not seek permissions for the use of copyrighted works in Errol. Instructors at IUPUI are ultimately responsible for securing permission to place material on Oncourse as needed. For more information about permissions, see: http://copyright.iupui.edu/permsec.htm

Alternative Methods of Information Delivery
Instructors may want to consider alternative methods of providing students with materials for various reasons. For instance, some copyright owners may routinely deny permission for their works to be accessible in electronic form, or it may be more effective, both in terms of time and money, to use an alternative delivery system.

1.Providing Links to Materials for Students. Linking to materials already lawfully posted on the internet is often the most efficient method of providing materials to students.

2. Oncourse. . Oncourse gives instructors considerable control over the selection and delivery of materials to students. For more information about applying copyright law to Oncourse, see: (future address of Oncourse and Copyright webpage).

3. Traditional Coursepacks. Coursepacks remain a viable option for some instructional needs. They may also be useful if permission to make electronic copies is not available, but permission to make print copies is possible.

4. Requiring Students to Purchase Materials. Don’t overlook the simple option of requiring student to purchase books and other materials that include the reading you need for your courses.

Return to Top

1 Copyright law provides the owner of the copyright with the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display or make derivative works of their materials subject to certain statutory exceptions. In most cases, posting copyrighted materials on electronic reserves implicates one or more of these rights. Return to text.

2 Copyright law generally gives automatic protection to "original" works that are "fixed" in any medium. Consequently, the law protects articles, books, photographs, software, music, and an enormous range of new works that are stored on paper, on disk, or in almost any medium. Return to text.

3 In general, the instructor will be the copyright owner of materials created by that individual, and only then if the instructor has not assigned the copyright to another party. Faculty authors frequently assign their copyrights to publishers, most often under the terms of a publication agreement for a journal article or other work. Read the fine print in the contracts carefully to determine who may be the copyright owner of your own work. For further information, see "Guidance for Faculty on Copyright, Publication and General Research Dissemination", Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, Circular 96-23, April 23, 1996. Return to text.

4 Some works are in the public domain and lack copyright protection typically because the copyright has expired or because the work is a "work of the U.S. Government." For more information about these possibilities, see: Copyright Management Center: Copyright Quickguide. Professor Laura N. Gasaway of the University of North Carolina has prepared a chart that succinctly summarizes when copyrights expire, "When Works Pass Into the Public Domain". Return to text.

5 The Copyright Act enumerates several exceptions to the exclusive rights held by the copyright owner. Many of the exceptions are narrowly constructed and compliance with the law will involve meticulous planning. For more information, see: Copyright Management Center: Statutory Exceptions. Return to text.

6 This condition is identical to the condition stated with respect to the "purpose" factor. This one fact—limiting access—can be important to at least two of the four factors in fair-use law. Return to text.

Links Updated: January 5, 2006