Copyright Information

DePauw Printing Services observes the laws that apply to copying printed materials for classroom distribution. Here are additional procedures we would like to have you follow if you are preparing course packs or planning to reproduce articles or images with DPS:

Many faculty members consider options of providing reprints to students of various chapters, articles, pictures, and other materials as part of the materials for their courses. While there are several different options from which you may choose, it is important to observe the regulations with regard to copyrights. In this note and with the advice of our University experts on these matters, review some of the legal options and point out a few options which are not allowed.
It is important to note that we face several competing pressures. As creators of material, particularly images and written work, we are acutely aware of the intellectual property rights of the creator to ownership of those creations and to rights of fair compensation for the use of those materials by others. At the same time, as teachers and scholars, we wish to have wide access to materials for research and for study by our students. We also are well aware of the high cost of education and of educational materials (books, in particular) and hope to minimize those costs.
Any one of the following options meets the appropriate tests of legal use of copyrighted material and fair compensation for the holder of the copyright.

1) Preparing a course pack to be printed at DePauw Printing Services in the Union Building basement after obtaining copyright permissions through a provider such as the Copyright Clearance Center. Department secretaries are the resource people for pursuing this option. Such copies should be sold to students through the University Bookstore.

2) Preparing a course pack to be printed through XanEdu, a commercial printing organization which also obtains the copyright permissions as part of its services. These are then sold through the University Bookstore.
For more information, you can contact XanEdu through the University Bookstore or XanEdu Customer Service at 1-800-218-5971 ext. 6553.

3) Ordering a course pack prepared by Fine Print Printing in Greencastle which has satisfied the University that its practices of obtaining copyright permissions and paying copyright fees meet the provisions of the copyright act and intellectual property laws. These should then be sold to students by Fine Print Printing.

4) Library Reserves (print or electronic) generally allow one-time use of copyrighted print or electronic copies and continuing use of links to licensed content through electronic subscription. Repeat use of unlicensed copies will incur copyright fees. For large numbers of reserve materials, you may wish to consider a course pack (see above) for student convenience.

Not all materials require permission. There are several categories of materials that you can freely use for your students and courses:
* Physical items already owned by the library (books!), or even a faculty member's personal copies can always be placed on print reserve without permission.
* Materials in the "Public Domain" are either offered freely by the author, or the copyright term has expired. The library can help you determine the public domain status of an item.
* US Government documents are free to use and do not require permission (your tax dollars at work!).
* There are also items freely available through association memberships, web sites and a variety of avenues. If you need help determining the copyright status of an item, please let us help you. For more information on library reserves, please visit <http://www.depauw.edu/library/ howto/putonreserves.asp>

After careful investigation, we have concluded that the following options are NOT likely to be deemed legal in a court test and may not be used by DePauw faculty members, as they would place both DePauw and individual faculty members at the risk of legal liability for the violation of copyright.

a) Photocopying materials at DePauw or through DePauw Printing Services without obtaining copyright permissions for students and distributing them in class, unless this effort meets the fair use provisions of the copyright act. These provisions allow "last minute" copying but prohibit repeated use of the same material under this provision in succeeding years or courses. They also prohibit using this option if there is/was time to obtain and pay appropriate copyright fees. With the advent of on-line permissions and payments, it is hard to argue that there is ever an emergency use of copyrighted materials in a course for which one could not obtain permission and pay appropriate fees.

b) Commissioning a local printer to make copies of materials for you or the printer to distribute and or sell to your students without obtaining copyright permissions.

c) Utilizing a service from a local printer in which a single set of copies is left by the faculty member and students are then instructed to order and pay for single copies made by the printer. Careful investigation by DePauw representatives finds this sort of commercial service a direct violation of the copyright act.

d) Repeat posting of electronic copies of copyrighted material on a class web site. That is, posting material one time satisfies fair-use provisions of the copyright act. Posting the same material a second time does not. As an alternative, you may always post a link to materials for which DePauw purchases an electronic subscription.

Faculty members and other DePauw employees are expressly forbidden to act knowingly in violation of the copyright act as such actions may bring legal liability onto the University as well.
If you have any questions about how to work most effectively to provide students legal access to copyrighted materials, please visit the Reserves website at <http://www.depauw.edu/library/howto/putonreserves.asp> or contact Mandy Henk (amandahenk@depauw.edu), Access Services Librarian, or Rick Provine (provine@depauw.edu), Director of Libraries. Since Mandy is on maternity leave until mid-September, please contact Rick in the short term.

Thank you for your assistance and cooperation.