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Doctrine of Fair Use

The doctrine of Fair Use of copyrighted material -- that is, reproduction for purposes of criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research without the approval of the copyright holder -- has deep roots in English and American common law, but has never been a set of black-and-white rules.  It exists today as a set of guidelines heavily dependent on interpretation by individual courts. 

The oldest set of guidelines is the four-pronged test of fairness, dating from an 1841 US court case and still in use.  The four issues to be considered are: 

•  the purpose and character of the use

•  the nature of the copyrighted work

•  how much of the reproduction is actually used for the purpose stated

•  the effects of the reproduction on the value of the copyright 

A 1975 Supreme Court case (Williams & Wilkins Company v. United States), the Copyright Act of 1976, and subsequent lower court decisions have added to the list of considerations and examples, but have still not created an exact and detailed definition of fair use.  Legal protection for fair use was at its strongest immediately following the Copyright Act, but has been weakened since.

 For example, Congress included a Classroom Guidelines portion of the

1976 act to set limits on what K-12 educators claiming fair use could be held to.  However, publishers have sought with some success to turn this intent on its head, by maintaining that the limits are the outer bounds of what should be tolerated -- a ceiling rather than a floor.  At the same time, publishers retain the right to sue even those who are within the Act's guidelines, which include:

•  spontaneity (the teachable moment)

•  brevity (use only what's needed)

•  no more than one copy per student per course

•  avoid copying as a substitute for course packs or books

•  avoid cumulative effect (don't routinely use the same work or source)

•  include notice of copyright

Then came the Internet. 

The 2002 TEACH Act is an amendment to the 1976 Act specifically concerned with remote education by accredited, nonprofit educational institutions.  It creates very narrow provisions for use of copyrighted material on educational Web sites.

 Because it's difficult to meet the restrictions of TEACH, educators should still apply Fair Use analysis (the four-pronged test) to what they're doing.  Instructors should not post copyrighted materials to course Web sites unless it's absolutely necessary for the course.  They should certainly restrict access to the Web site in this case, and take all possible steps to prevent further copying.

Conversion of copyrighted material to a new medium for ease of use is acceptable, IF the material is not otherwise available in the new media.

It is not acceptable purely as a means of reproduction.  Absence of a copyright notice on material does NOT mean copyright doesn't apply.

Source Article: APPLYING FAIR USE DOCTRINE TO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES BY Wesley D. Blackeslee, copyright 2007.  

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BRIAN'S CORNER                                                                                                                                               Hi folks! Be sure to close your self-registration if you class began on January 14. As a reminder, it’s the same process as opening it up: From either the Build tab or the Teach Tab, select Manage course in the tool panel, then click on Settings. On the right, under Administration, select User Manager And it’s that time again already!  Time for your summer Online Course information, that is. If you are teaching an online course or courses this summer, please complete the Word template for each course, save as course number_your last name and attach it in email to me at bditmer@cnm.edu. It’s on the bottom of the faculty resource page at our website:  http://www.cnm.edu/depts/dl/Faculty.php Or, if you prefer the URL is: http://www.cnm.edu/depts/dl/components/Faculty_Course_Instructions_template_revised08.doc

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Title V Regional Best Practices Conference

March27-29, 2008

The development office at Northern New Mexico Community College is organizing a conference to be held at CNM's Smith Brasher Hall from March 27th through March 29th.

Purpose: To strengthen Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) by sharing best practices and good ideas among Title V grantees.  HSI representatives will develop effective and practical approaches to better project management, will share strategies for grant-funded activities and will strengthen grant-seeking knowledge and capacity.

Check out the conference flyer for more information!

Title V Regional Best Practices Conference