Fair Use in Our University Today
Presented by
Janet Faulkner, Senior Assistant General Counsel
Hillary Corbett, Scholarly Communication Librarian
October 17, 2012
© Northeastern University
Overview of Session
• Using copyright-protected works in the classroom and
at the university
• Fair use
– What is it?
– The four factors
– Potential applications
• Online education and hybrid courses
– The TEACH ACT
• Common questions about copyright and fair use
• Q&A
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Using Copyrighted Works
in the Classroom and at the University
• When will fair use apply?
• When do I need to seek permission?
• Legal alternatives for including creative
material in your projects
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What is Fair Use?
You normally must obtain permission from the
copyright owner to lawfully engage in any of these
activities:
• Produce copies of a work (or a portion thereof)
• Prepare derivative works based on an original
work
• Distribute copies of a work (or a portion)
• Perform a work (or a portion) in public
• Display a work (or a portion) in public
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Fair Use: The Four Factors
Each use of a work should be preceded by a
consideration of these four factors:
1. The purpose and character of the use, including
whether it is educational or commercial
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substance of the portion used
4. The effect of the use on the potential market for or
value of the work
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Fair Use: The Four Factors
Transformativeness – the “fifth factor”?
The key question in determining fair use is often
whether the use is transformative: does it add
value to and repurpose the work for a new
audience?
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Fair Use: The Four Factors
Image courtesy of University of Minnesota Libraries
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Potential Applications of Fair Use
• In a face-to-face classroom
• In an online learning environment
• Selecting and using supplemental materials
for a course
• In creating materials for NU
• For student activities
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Online Education and Hybrid Courses
• Incorporating copyrighted works (or portions
thereof) into courses under development
 Always better to post links where possible in
online environment
• When is the TEACH Act applicable? (and when
does it not apply?)
• Copyrighted works and Blackboard
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The TEACH Act
• TEACH = Technology, Education and Copyright
Harmonization
• Only applies if there is no face-to-face component
of the course
• Generally speaking, defines the ability to use and
include works in course content which digitally is
available for online-only students
• But there are stringent guidelines…
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TEACH Act Guidelines
1.
Use must be made as part of “systematic mediated instructional
activities” (e.g., an online course offered by a university, with a
dedicated instructor)
2.
Use must be related directly to the learning objectives of the course
3.
Works to be used must have been obtained lawfully
4.
Works to be used must not have been created for use specifically in
an online learning environment (examples: electronic supplements to
printed textbooks, online course modules, etc.)
5.
Access must be limited to students enrolled in the course (i.e.
through password-protected learning environment)
6.
Materials must be removed from view and access after the course
has ended
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Commonly Encountered Questions
About Copyright and Fair Use
• What are my options for providing course reserves vs.
coursepacks for purchase?
• How can I use material from electronic journals or databases in
my teaching?
• I want to give my students a copy of an article I wrote
• I want my students to watch a movie outside of class that the
library doesn’t own
• I want my students to read an article/book chapter that the
library doesn’t own
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Commonly Encountered Questions
About Copyright and Fair Use, cont’d.
•
I want to show a movie in my class
•
What is “the class”? How it is defined may make a
difference
•
Library-owned vs. rented from Netflix vs. streamed
from Internet
•
I want my students to make a video as a class project
•
What general guidance should I give my students?
•
We would like to show a movie as part of an NU campus
activity
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Copyright and Fair Use in the News
How do recent legal decisions affect NU?
– GSU E-reserves
– UCLA streaming media
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How Can the Library Help?
• Online guides
– Get Help > Copyright & Fair Use (FAQs, 4 factors
continuum, and more!)
– Find > Subject Guides > Open Access Resources
– Find > Subject Guides > Multimedia Resources for
Research and Content Creation
• Assistance with course reserves
– Services > Course Reserves
• Assistance with media creation
– Services > Digital Media Commons Studio
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How Can the Office of General
Counsel Help?
• Provide guidance about faculty projects, and
supervising student projects
• Determine when releases are needed
• Respond to online course development
questions
• Identify and address concerns about including
sensitive information in projects
© Northeastern University
Questions?
Janet Faulkner
617-373-2157 | j.faulkner@neu.edu
Hillary Corbett
617-373-2352 | h.corbett@neu.edu
© Northeastern University