Within the Copyright Act of 1976 and its subsequent amendments, there are exemptions for the use of copyrighted materials in a physical classroom as well as a digital classroom setting. Sometimes these exceptions amount to fair use, sometimes they fall under the purview of additional legislation such as the TEACH Act. It primarily depends on the circumstances of the use and the classroom setting.
In either case, it is necessary to show due diligence to adhere to copyright law when applying exceptions to the law. What due diligence entails depends on the circumstances of the use. One example would be seeking a copyright holder's permission to use a material in class, rather than only relying on fair use doctrine or the TEACH Act without seeking permission. Best practice for seeking permission is the use of the Copyright Clearance Center to search for your work's licensing options.
Please review the following sections depending on your classroom setting.
Exceptions exist -- in Section 110 of the Copyright Code: Limitations on exclusive rights: Exemption of certain performances and displays -- for the use of copyrighted works in an in-person classroom setting. These exceptions are statutory carve-outs, not gray area risk assessments like Fair Use.
For instructors wishing to display or perform a work, the work must:
These exceptions do not extend to the reproduction or distribution of works in a classroom setting. For example, you can read a short story out loud in a class of 30 students (provided the conditions above are met), but you cannot copy the short story 30 times and distribute it to students.
If you intend to make and distribute physical copies of a copyrighted work in a classroom, best practice is that it comprises no more than 10% of the original work (ex. only a chapter of a book or one article from a single journal issue).
For information on the use of materials in a digital education environment, please review the "Using Copyrighted Materials in a Digital Classroom - The TEACH Act" section below.
The TEACH Act is a 2002 amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976 which provides clarification on how copyrighted materials can be used in an online educational format, including distance education, without permission from the owner as long as the conditions of the Act are met.
Note that if you meet the qualifications for exemption under the TEACH Act, you do not need to worry about fair use requirements. However, if you do not meet TEACH Act requirements, you still may be able to use the materials without permission if you meet all four fair use factors listed in the "Using Copyrighted Materials in an In-Person Classroom - Fair Use" section on this page.
Four Steps to TEACH Act Best Practice:
In terms of converting a physical or analog source to a digital format, the TEACH Act "does not authorize the conversion of print or other analog versions of works into digital formats, except when...
(A) no digital version of the work is available to the institution; or
(B) the digital version of the work that is available to the institution is subject to technological protection measures that prevent its use."
Fair Use is an exemption to the exclusive copyright protections of a work and is detailed in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. Essentially, fair use allows certain certain reproductions and distribution of copyrighted material without the copyright holder's permission "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research." Use of copyrighted material for these purposes can be deemed as "not an infringement of copyright."
However, not all uses of copyrighted work which fall under these categories can be considered Fair Use. So, to determine whether your purpose of using a work would fall under Fair Use, all of the following four factors must be considered:
Section 121 of the Copyright Code allows for reproduction or distributed of copyrighted materials without permission "in accessible formats exclusively for use by eligible persons."
For questions about who is an eligible person and how to obtain accessible classroom copies, please contact the Academic Accommodation Services.
When including materials available through the library (either books, book chapters, or journal articles) in a course in either a syllabus or on a Blackboard site, it is best practice to provide a direct link to the resource rather than the a .pdf copy of the item itself. This is for two reasons:
Enter an article's DOI or PMID number to search the Dykes Library for access to a specific article.
If you only know the article's title and journal title, please use the Citation Search/Linker tool, accessible from both the link below or the library homepage.
Enter the DOI or PMID for individual articles, or ISBNs for individual books.
If the library has direct access to an individual copy, an access link will appear.
This page's URL may be used as a best practice in a Blackboard course or shared directly with students for accessing the resource on or off campus.
Dykes Library Interlibrary Loan services enable KUMC students, faculty and staff to request copies of materials such as articles, books, and media from other libraries if Dykes Library does not have access to a copy. Materials borrowed through ILL are intended for individual use related to research, scholarship, or work obligations at KUMC. They are not intended to supplement materials required for coursework that are normally purchased via the bookstore or an online vendor. Therefore, faculty and students are not allowed to request required textbooks via Interlibrary Loan.
For more information on using the library's interlibrary loan system (ILLiad) to request materials for individual use, use the link below.
If faculty, students, or researchers would like to request the library purchase a copy of a book/e-book or a subscription to a particular journal, please fill out the form linked below.
Note, a request does not guarantee a purchase will be made. All recommendations will be evaluated based on the library's Collection Management Policy and fund availability.