Guidelines for Using Copyrighted Works

Courseware i.e. WebCT

 

TEACH Act, Web Sites & Courseware

On your course web site, department web site, or personal web site, please mount only articles that you have authored or articles you have never before posted.  Linking is always preferable to downloading, scanning and copying.

The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act) became law in November 2002.  It allows for the posting of a limited number of articles as long as each article is integral to the course.  This means that each posted reading must be required reading, rather than suggested reading.  When you wish to provide suggested readings, please use the Libraries Electronic Reserves system.  When instructors use the Libraries’ Electronic Reserves, Print Reserves and Media Reserves, the Libraries Copyright Office will seek the required clearances and pay any applicable royalty fees, when a proposed use of any copyrighted work appears to go beyond fair use limitations.  When a proposed use of a copyrighted work appears to fall outside of the TEACH stipulations, please decide whether your use is a fair one or not by considering all four of the fair use factors as follows: 

1.      The PURPOSE of your use

·         Educational versus Commercial

·         Mere duplication versus Transformative

2.      The NATURE of the work to be copied

·         Fact versus Fiction

·         Published versus unpublished

3.      The AMOUNT of the work you wish to use in relation to the work as a whole

·         Are you excerpting the “guts” of the work?

4.      The EFFECT of your use on the market for, or value of the work as a whole

·         Will your use replace the purchase of the work?

·         Will your use improve the market for the work or harm it?

In addition, for a use to be considered fair, a complete citation must be included on the first page of the material.  Even Public Domain sources must be correctly attributed.  Online sources should have a complete URL address.

 

Please see University Libraries Copyright homepage for links to Title 17, U.S. Code §107, and to applicable University Policies, http://library.gmu.edu/copyright

These are procedures for use by all instructors proposing to digitize readings, images, text, graphics, etc. into a University Web Site for access by students registered in a course of study taught via George Mason University, or any other University Web Site.  If in doubt, please ask.

  1. Please mount only your own course syllabi, study sheets, sample exams, etc. on your department or course web site (WebCT, Blackboard, TownHall, or any open source courseware).
  2. If you are using any works not authored by you, the University Libraries Copyright Office is equipped to handle all types of permission requests including all applications for Distance Learning.
  3. The University Libraries Electronic Course Reserves Service was created to relieve you of the responsibility of seeking permissions for digitizing readings or images, etc. for your students to access from remote locations for the purpose of preparing for a course.  Many journals are already licensed for use by George Mason University students and faculty.  Many items may need permission requests.  For example:

ü      Online articles from newspapers, journals, and other periodicals not licensed by Mason Libraries.

ü      Print copies AND online versions not accessible through Mason.

ü      Any writings found online NOT accompanied by an explicit permission grant, for     example:  “Please copy freely for educational use.”

ü      Copyrighted images scanned from books, journals, or other web sites

ü      Video and audio segments from videos taped by you, purchased by you, rented from a video store, or borrowed from the University Library.