Copyright Laws

Beyond Fair Use, copyright law includes specific face-to-face teaching exemptions. These exemptions are covered in Section 110(1) of the Copyright Act and permit instructors and students in a non-profit educational institution to perform or display a copyrighted work during face-to-face teaching. The performance or display must meet the requirements below:

• The performance or display must be in a classroom or similar place (Online environments are not covered in this copyright law section but are addressed in the TEACH Act).
• The performance or display of motion pictures or other audiovisual works must be from a lawfully made copy. 

The steps below can be helpful to help qualify if you are correctly using fair use guidelines and will help protect you and KCKCC from infringement liability:

• If using third-party material, perform a fair use analysis in good faith. 
• Copy as little of the material as you can and still make the use you need.
• In an online setting, always check to see if the Library has a license for the material. It is always better to point students towards material in an accessible database than posting or using a copyrighted surrogate. 
• Place material in a password-protected environment available only to those enrolled in the class and terminate the students' access to material when the class is over. 
• Link to the material whenever possible instead of copying.
• Ask the copyright holder for permission if the use cannot be considered. Classroom exceptions may apply and allow your use. 

Blackboard and Library course reserves each provide a password-protected environment to allow the posting of course material for enrolled students. 

The Library course reserves comply with U.S. Copyright Laws. They are developed in accordance with the American Library Association guideline for Applying Fair Use in the Development of Electronic Resources and the Association of Research Libraries' Code for Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries. Using Blackboard and Library course reserves can be an easy step to following copyright laws and the Fair Use Policy. 

If you would like to put be anything on course reserves, please email Debra Newton, Gayle Holliday, or Joy Lawrence.