Greenfield Community College

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Copyright resources

What is copyright?

Copyright laws exist to protect the intellectual property rights of the creator of a work, be it an article, a book, an image, a musical recording, or any other created work.  Only the creator has the exclusive right to copy, make derivative works, distribute, display, or perform the work publicly.  Others who wish to use the work must obtain permission from the copyright owner, unless the situation meets certain conditions which exempt it from liability under copyright law.  "Fair use" is one of those exceptions.   

What is fair use?

The fair use doctrine applies to non-profit educational institutions and allows educators to provide copyrighted materials under certain circumstances.  However, this does not mean that any educational use is considered to be "fair use", nor does all copying for classroom use qualify under "fair use".

According to Sec. 107 of the Copyright Law of 1976,

.the fair use of a copyrighted work.for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research, is not an infringement of copyright.  In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use, the factors to be considered shall include:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational use;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyright work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Faculty need to be aware of copyright restrictions and analyze their planned use of copyrighted materials according to the four determining factors of fair use to ensure that it qualifies.  According to the GCC Handbook of Policies and Procedures for Adjunct Faculty, "All instructors are expected to adhere to all Copyright laws.  The GCC library can offer information on current copyright requirement."

Library Resources

The GCC library maintains a copyright notebook on permanent reserve to assist faculty in understanding copyright and its issues.  This resource contains guidelines, sources of further information, and copies of articles regarding copyright and academia. 

The library also has a number of books in the collection to use as resources on the subject of copyright, especially in an academic or library setting.  Some of those titles are as follows:

• Copyright Essentials for Librarians and Educators.  Crews, Kenneth D.  KF2995 C74 2000
• Technology and copyright law: a guidebook for the library, research, and teaching professions.  Bielefield, Arlene & Lawrence Cheeseman.  KF3030.1 B533 1997
• The copyright primer for librarians and educators.  Bruwelheide, Janis H.  Ref. Z649 F35 B78 1995                    

The GCC Library Collection Development Policy states:

Copyright Compliance

The GCC Library supports the law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Websites on Copyright

The following websites can also serve as sources of information regarding copyright.  Many have links to additional websites on the topic.

• U.S. Copyright Office:  http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/
  Information on laws, registration, and policy
• Copyright Crash Course:  http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/cprtindx.htm
  Great copyright information from the U. of Texas
• Copyright Website:  http://www.benedict.com/
  A commercial website providing copyright information and services
• Copyright & Fair Use:  http://fairuse.stanford.edu/
  The copyright website at Stanford U. Library
• Copyright Information for Educators:  http://www.lib.washington.edu/help/guides/copyright.html
  Information for faculty from the U. of Washington Libraries
• Copyright & Fair Use in the Classroom, on the Internet, and the World Wide Web:  http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.html
  Information for faculty from the U. of Maryland
• Copyright and Fair Use at Mt. Wachusett Community College:  http://www.mwcc.mass.edu/html/library/copyright.html
  Copyright guidelines for faculty at Mt. Wachusett CC
• When Works Pass into the Public Domain:  http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
• Copyright Page at Nelinet:  http://www.nelinet.net/necol/resources.htm
  Copyright resources compiled by the New England Library and Information Services Network

Prepared by Janet Ryan, Evening Librarian, 4/03