Creating Distance Education Courses at IUPUI:
Managing Copyright Issues

Prepared by the
COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT CENTER

David Wong , Senior Copyright Analyst
Copyright Management Center
www.copyright.iupui.edu
Revision Date: May 7, 2004

I. Introduction
II. Copyright Basics
III. Assuring Rights of Use in the Instructor's Materials
IV. Using Works Created By Others
    A. Securing Permission
  B. Fair Use
    C. The TEACH Act
V. Forms

I. Introduction

Creating distance education courses often involve many copyright issues. Ownership of contributed materials by instructors, rights of use to these contributed materials, licensing the use of materials created by others, using materials created by others without permission: these are but a few of the concerns that may be implicated. The following information has been complied to assist instructors and course designers at IUPUI in the management of these copyright issues.

II. Copyright Basics

Copyright Quickguide : Learn basic copyright information quickly. This site includes information about copyright protection, registration, ownership, rights, duration, fair use, permissions, and more.

III. Assuring the Right to Use Instructor's Materials

The law of copyright is simply inadequate to meet the wide range of interests that diverse parties have in collaborative projects, especially in the academic setting. The law also embodies tremendous risk. Recent court rulings have indicated that much faculty work product may well be “work made for hire” under copyright law, with all rights belonging to the employer university. Such a sweeping grant of all rights to any one party is an affront to the more cooperative nature of academic work. The “Memorandum of Understanding” is an attempt to establish a more mutually beneficial model for sharing rights to use instructional materials.

Memorandum of Understanding: Assuring Rights of Use of Instructional Materials : The MOU is an agreement between the university (represented by the school) and the instructor. It assures to both the university and the instructor certain rights to use the instructional materials. The MOU creates a “window of opportunity” for the university to use a set of the instructor's materials, while the instructor may concurrently use the same materials in ways that do not directly compete with the university's use.

Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Ownership, Rights of Use and the Memorandum of Understanding : This document answers many of the questions that instructors often have concerning the Memorandum of Understanding including which Schools at IUPUI have adopted the MOU.

IV. Using Works Created By Others

A good rule of thumb is to assume all works are protected by copyright (for more information in determining whether a work is protected by copyright, visit: Copyright Quickguide ). Therefore, to use works created by anyone other than the instructor, it is essential to request permission from the copyright owner, use materials in a manner that constitutes a fair use as defined by law, or comply with another statutory exception to the copyright owner's exclusive rights in their materials.

A. Securing Permission

Copyright owners have the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, and create derivatives of their works. Unless your use falls within a statutory exception to these rights (e.g. fair use), you must obtain permission from the copyright owner to lawfully engage in any of these activities.

Has the University Already Secured the Right for Students to Access the Work? Instructors are encouraged to investigate whether the materials they wish to use are available through one of the many full-text databases licensed to the IUPUI libraries. Permission to access these databases already has been secured by the libraries and it may be possible to link directly from within the shell of the distance education courses to the databases that include the desired material or to the material itself. Linking raises few, if any, copyright issues as opposed to posting materials in the course, which involves reproduction and distribution. For further information concerning which journal articles are currently available through thes e databases, please contact: Bill Orme 274-0485, orme @ iupui.edu.

How to Secure Permission to Use Copyrighted Works : This guide will aid in your quest to secure the right to use copyrighted works.

Frequently Used Forms for Securing Permission: The following documents are standard form letters. They should be read carefully and adapted to fit your particular needs.

Model Permission Request Forms
Permission to Use Student Work
Research Assistant Copyright Agreement
Appearance Release Form

B. Fair Use

Fair use is a legal doctrine that allows the public to make limited uses of copyrighted works without permission. 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 creates an 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 creates an inherent 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.

Fair Use Issues : A compilation of information concerning fair use in general.

Checklist for Fair Use : A tool for conducting fair-use analyses. You should save completed fair-use checklists in your records.

Course Management Systems and Copyright: Oncourse, Angel, and Other Electronic Information Delivery Systems at IUPUI : This document focuses on conducting fair-use balancing tests in conjunction with Course Management Systems, a form of distance education. Much of the discussion will be relevant to all of distance education.

Common Scenarios of Fair Use Issues: Posting Materials on Course Management Systems : This document provides sample scenarios that will assist you in determining whether your use of copyrighted materials will be considered a fair use.

C. The TEACH Act

The TEACH Act amended the U.S. Copyright law in 2002 on the issue of the use of copyrighted works in distance education. The new law is a statutory exception to the exclusive rights of copyright owners. The TEACH Act is one possible means for lawful uses of works, and the law imposes several requirements for compliance.

Checklist for Compliance with the TEACH Act : This document identifies the steps that must be taken in order to comply with the requirements of the TEACH Act.

For more information concerning the TEACH Act, please visit, http://copyright.iupui.edu/teachhome.htm .

V. Forms

Submission Form for Copyrighted Works : Only IUPUI Jumpstart program instructors should submit this form. These instructors should put all copyrighted works that they wish to use on the form for assessment concerning access, fair-use, Teach Act, and permissions. Others may use the form as a template for keeping track of copyrighted works that they wish to use for their distance education courses.
Submission Form for Copyrighted Works: Instructions : These instructions are for IUPUI Online Jumpstart program instructors. However, they may provide helpful information to others as how to use the submission form efficiently.

Creating Distance Education Courses at IUPUI: Managing Copyright Issues