Copyright Information

All course developers at Harrisburg University must follow educational fair use guidelines and copyright law when sharing and disseminating copyrighted resources. The purpose of this guide is to provide faculty, staff, and students at Harrisburg University with an understanding of: Copyright law and fair use of copyrighted materials.

This information on this page is not comprehensive. For more detailed information contact a librarian or the refer to  Circular 1 - Copyright Basics from the U.S. Copyright Office.

Page Contents:

• What Is Copyright?
• The TEACH Act of 2002
• Best Practices in Sharing Resources

What is Copyright?

According to the U.S. Copyright Office:

Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.

U.S. law goes on to say: "Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does NOT protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed."

The full text of U.S. copyright law is available at: Title 17 of United States Code (Copyright Law of the United States). 

TEACH Act

The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2002, or TEACH Act, allows accredited, non-profit educational institutions to make certain copyrighted materials available online to students for distance learning purposes without obtaining permission from the copyright holder

To qualify for the TEACH exemptions:

• The institution must be an accredited, non-profit educational institution.
• The use must be part of mediated instructional activities.
• The use must be limited to a specific number of students enrolled in a specific class.
• The use must either be for 'live' or asynchronous class sessions.
• The use must not include the transmission of textbook materials, materials "typically purchased or acquired by students," or works developed specifically for online uses.
• Only "reasonable and limited portions," such as might be performed or displayed during a typical live classroom session, may be used.
• The institution must have developed and publicized its copyright policies, specifically informing students that course content may be covered by copyright, and include a notice of copyright on the online materials.
• The institution must implement some technological measures to ensure compliance with these policies, beyond merely assigning a password. Ensuring compliance through technological means may include user and location authentication through Internet Protocol (IP) checking, content timeouts, print-disabling, cut & paste disabling, etc.

The TEACH Act DOES NOT apply to:

• Electronic reserves, course packs (electronic or paper) or interlibrary loan (ILL).
• Commercial document delivery.
• Textbooks or other digital content provided under license from the author, publisher, aggregator or other entity.
• Conversion of materials from analog to digital formats, except when the converted material is used solely for authorized transmissions and when a digital version of a work is unavailable or protected by technological measures.

Fore more information see: The TEACH Act and some Frequently Asked Questions | Advocacy, Legislation & Issues from the American Library Association.

Copyright Best Practices

When sharing material for courses, consider the following best practices: 

• Use only as much of a work as is needed in compliance with the Fair Use exception to copyright law to meet your educational objectives, unless you obtain a license or written permission to use more. When you must share copies of material directly, first read Fair Use guidelines to help determine whether you are sharing material legally. 
• The best way to avoid copyright violation of course materials is to have students find and obtain their own legal copies of reading and research material, whether they purchase a copy or access one that is available in the library, in the public domain, or as an open access item on the Internet.
• Whenever sharing is necessary, you should provide only a link to a legal copy. Instructions for how to find stable links can be found at Sharing Library Resources With Students on the Faculty Resources page.
• You can request the library to consider purchasing materials you want to use for a course and adding them to the library's collection. The library may be able to purchase unlimited-user copies that will ensure legal access for you and your students.