There are a lot of pedagogical and technical issues that make the shift from in-person to online teaching challenging but copyright shouldn't be a big additional area of worry! Many legal issues are similar for both in-person courses or remote teaching. Here’s a quick summary:

1.    Licensed Library resources offer a wealth of media, including articles, books, films, music, and art reproductions. A little linking (from GoStudio to database content) goes a very long way! Database content is governed by license agreements.

2.   Open Educational Resources (OER) are available online to everyone, cost nothing to use, and are often adaptable. Open Access (OA) literature is available to everyone online at no cost.

3.    Fair use is flexible and requires thoughtful evaluation. More information about fair use is below.

4.    Accessibilty is also important to consider. Copyright law does not preclude creating transcripts or captions for course videos and audio. In fact, it normally allows for it.

It is the right and responsibility of instructors to make their own decisions about the instructional materials they require and make available to their students.

Copyright & Scanning Library Resources

CCAD Packard Library is committed to helping faculty by providing online course reserves whenever possible. Library staff is aware that some print materials are not available in any other format, and thus scanning of certain materials may be possible. 

“Where scanning in-copyright print materials is required for teaching, it can be done freely without permission if it is a fair use. Fair use is a limitation on copyright favoring socially beneficial uses, including education. However, not every educational use is fair; the determination must be made on a case-by-case basis.”- “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries”, CMSI

What constitutes fair use? In a nutshell, it depends on the situation. There are no hard and fast rules as spelled out in copyright law of the United States.  For a more detailed explanation please visit the “Public Statement of Library Copyright Specialists: Fair Use & Emergency Remote Teaching & Research”. 

Some basic principles to consider when deciding whether your materials are fair use:

• What is the purpose and character of the use? Does it serve the public through education?
• What is the nature of the work used? Is it factual or creative? Published or not?
• What is the amount of material you wish to have scanned in relation to the overall work? (i.e. a chapter of a book) There is no set percentage or number of pages as outlined in U.S. law, but between 10-20% of a work is often used in practice.
• What is the overall impact of giving this material to others? Would the rights holder lose income if the material was available for free?

Things to Consider

When making your decision, please keep the following practicalities in mind:

• Is the material you wish to have scanned an essential part of the course or is it supplemental material?
• How much of the book or journal do you want to use? Sharing a journal article or small portion of a book as a PDF might be acceptable, but it would not be fair use to upload an entire journal issue or book.
• Can you link to the material instead of uploading it, such as a link to an eBook or article in the library catalog?  Linking to existing materials from a course website usually doesn't present any copyright issues, but uploading files to the course website is almost always a copyright issue in much the same way that making paper copies is. For information on how to link, click HERE.
• Will the material you provide significantly impact the rights holder? Due to this principle, Packard Library will be giving scanning preference to print books that do not exist anywhere as an ebook. If the textbook can be found in ebook format, it will greatly depend on the amount of material that needs to be scanned. If it is a significant amount (more than 10-20%), students will have to purchase or rent the ebook/print version. Refer your students to Resources for Distance Learners for rental/purchasing options.

After the requested materials have been scanned, please:

• Inform your students that they are not permitted to distribute the material in any format. 
• Ensure that the scanned material is READ ONLY in GoStudio. For information on how to create a read-only copy and enable security settings, see: https://www.uab.edu/vsrc/images/manuals/How_to_create_a_read_only_PDF.pdf
• Ensure that the material is only available for the duration of the course.