Library
Preus Library
700 College Dr
Decorah, IA 52101
Fall Term Hours
Mon.-Thur.: 7:30 a.m. – Midnight
Fri.: 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sat.: 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sun.: Noon – Midnight
Finals Week Hours
Sun., Dec. 10: 11:00 a.m. – Midnight
Mon.-Wed.., Dec. 11-13: 7:30 a.m. – Midnight
Thurs., Dec. 14: 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 15: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Phone: 563-387-1166
For Instructors
In today’s hyperlinked world, finding and accessing information for use in the classroom is easier than ever. With online tools like KATIE, it is nearly effortless to digitally republish and share material with students. Sharing information in digital form also heightens the importance of ensuring that use of that information is done so in compliance with copyright law.
As educators, sharing and building upon the intellectual property of others is at the core of our scholarship. It is increasingly important that we as educators both share our own creativity through scholarship as well as properly use the intellectual creativity of others. Respecting the copyright ownership of others ensures that others respect our own rights.
Luther College expects all faculty to ensure that all materials (physical and virtual) used in courses are done so in compliance with all federal copyright laws and statutes. According to the Luther Copyright Policy, responsibility for clearing copyright for materials in all formats rests with the course instructor.
Copyright in the Classroom
Specific provisions in US Copyright law enable greater use of copyrighted materials in the face-to-face and virtual classrooms. See our page on using Copyright in the Classroom for more information about making and distributing copies, displaying images, and playing films and sound recordings in the classroom.
Coursepacks
Coursepacks are defined as collected anthologies of individually published material (usually journal articles and individual chapters from larger works) collected for use in a single course. See this page for more information about creating and assigning Coursepacks.
Course Reserves
Items may be placed on physical reserve at the circulation desk in Preus Library. See the Course Reserves page for more information.
Film in Instruction
Want to use a film in your class? See these guidelines for the best way to meet your needs.
KATIE and Copyright
See the KATIE and Copyright page for more information about how copyright laws apply to materials shared electronically through a course management system.
Music and Performances
There are special copyright considerations for music and performances, either in the classroom, on campus, or online.
Syllabi Language
See this page for recommended copyright language you may use in your syllabi.
Copyright law grants important exemptions that are specifically designed for nonprofit higher educational institutions and libraries. Three provisions of the copyright statute are of particular importance to teachers and researchers:
- Public display and performance of copyrighted works in the classroom or in an online teaching environment is covered under Section 110 of US Copyright Law.
- Special exemptions for the reproduction of copyrighted works by libraries and archives is covered under Section 108 of US Copyright Law.
- Fair Use of copyrighted materials for the purpose of analysis, criticism, commentary, parody, and teaching (including making multiple copies for classroom use) is covered by Section 107 of US Copyright Law.
Online Instruction and the TEACH Act
In 2002 Congress passed the TEACH Act, which updated Section 110(2) of US Copyright Law to extend certain exemptions to the online teaching environment. The TEACH Act allows copyrighted material to be shared in an online environment, such as KATIE, if specific requirements are met.
Implementing TEACH can be difficult because of its complexity and the many detailed requirements for instructors, technologists, and institutions. Luther College satisfies the institutional TEACH Act requirements so that its provisions may be available to the college community.
Benefits of the TEACH Act
- Performances and displays of nearly all types of copyrighted works
- Transmission of digital materials to students at distant education locations
- Storage of copyrighted content for brief periods of time, such as that which occurs in the process of transmitting digital content
- Creating digital versions of print or analog works
Requirements of the TEACH Act
In order to take advantage of these benefits, instructors and institutions must meet certain policy requirements specified by the TEACH Act. Reasonable measures to assure that only enrolled students will have access to materials during the course of instruction must be in place before TEACH exemptions can be made. Below is a list of requirements:
- The teaching must occur at an accredited, nonprofit educational institution.
- Only lawfully acquired copies may be used.
- Use is limited to performances and displays. The TEACH Act does not apply to materials that are for students’ independent use and retention, such as textbooks or readings. (Other aspects of copyright law or license provisions of library resources may allow the sharing of these materials.)
- Use of materials must be within the context of “mediated instructional activities” analogous to the activities of a face-to-face class session.
- The materials to be used should not include those primarily marketed for the purposes of distance education (i.e. an electronic textbook or a multimedia tutorial).
- Only those students enrolled in the class should have access to the material.
- Reasonable efforts must be made to prevent students from distributing the material after viewing it.
- If a digital version of the work is already available, then an analog copy cannot be converted for educational use.
- Students must be informed that the materials they access are protected by copyright.
- The educational institution must have a policy on the use of copyrighted materials and provide informative resources for faculty advising them on their rights.
The requirements for complying with the TEACH Act may seem numerous and onerous. As opportunities for applying the TEACH Act are limited in scope, keep in mind that you may also consider to fair use when using copyrighted works online and in distance education settings.
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The content on this page was adapted from the University of Minnesota Libraries under a CC-BY-NC license. Thanks!
Coursepacks (occasionally referred to as “Course Readers”) are defined as collected anthologies of individually published material (usually journal articles and individual chapters from larger works) collected for use in a single course. Traditionally coursepacks have been copied and made available through the Book Shop similar to monographs. Before a coursepack can be created, copyright permission must be obtained and fees paid either through the copyright owner (usually the publisher) or a vendor, such as the Copyright Clearance Center. Each item in the packet must have copyright permission. Copyright fees are paid through the coursepack purchase price.
Questions may be directed to the Director of the Luther Book Shop. If faculty wish to independently request copyright permissions, those may be made online using at www.copyright.com. Some basic guidelines for creating coursepacks and customized anthologies are as follows:
- Every chapter and article in a coursepack, if taken from copyrighted material, requires permission from the copyright holder.
- Each item in the coursepack must include a note of copyright.
- Permission needs to be requested for each semester in which the coursepack is used.
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- A Copyright Clearance Declaration form must be filled and given to Book Shop staff for each item
Materials may be placed on electronic reserve (via KATIE) or physical Course Reserve at Preus Library for use by enrolled students in particular courses. Print reserve check-outs are limited to two hours.
In order to place materials on reserve, faculty members should:
- Evaluate all materials individually to determine whether use of the item requires permissions from the copyright holder. In most cases, use of the item is protected by fair use or the TEACH Act.
- Limit the amount of material to be placed on reserve to just the portions required for the course.
- Ensure that all materials carry and display the original copyright notice included with the material.
Preus Library staff may scan copyrighted print materials for placement on KATIE provided the faculty member affirms that doing so is legal under copyright law. In all cases, library scanning will not exceed the guidelines listed below:
- One article from a issue of a journal or newspaper
- One chapter from a book
- An excerpt from a prose work, not to exceed 10 percent of the work
- One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture per book or per journal issue
If your desired use exceeds the above guidelines, you may want to consider creating a Coursepack for your course with assistance from the Book Shop staff to obtain copyright permissions.
Contact the Preus Library Circulation Supervisor Eddy Atwell to arrange for print reserves.
If you wish to place non-print copyrighted works on KATIE, see KATIE and Copyright.
Learning management systems such as Luther’s KATIE are terrific ways to share content with students. Though it may be easy to use tools such as this to distribute information, doing so falls under the exact same copyright laws and regulations as distributing physical copies. Generally, items must still be cleared through copyright to be used in these media. Fair use also applies in the exact same way it does for physical use of media.
Many faculty look to electronic course reserves or learning management systems to replace coursepacks, citing their ease of use and digital delivery. Using them in this way is legal provided that all copyright is cleared just like coursepacks. When providing these materials through a system like KATIE, it is the faculty member’s responsibility to clear these copyrights and submit any copyright fees. If your materials are not covered by fair use, coursepacks may be a convenient way to ensure students pay for copyright licensing fees associated with their studies.
One advantage of online tools such as KATIE is it makes possible direct links to licensed library resources. For materials available via licensed library resources, no copyright fees are required. Therefore, this is the best way to provide easy, no-cost access to content directly from a KATIE site. Please note this applies to linking, where no copy of the material is made and distributed. If you have questions about linking to library resources, please visit the Reference Desk or contact your library liaison.
In addition to hosting print content, KATIE is also capable of streaming video. Please contact the Digital Media Center if you are interested in using this feature.
Music is also copyrighted material. Separate copyrights exist for musical performances, recordings, and sheet music. Additional copyrights may exist for the lyrics. Vendors usually sell sheet music in sets (e.g. band sets, chorus sets, etc.): hence, single copies may not be available, but can be ordered directly from the publisher.
Sheet Music
Fair use guidelines authorize limited copying and altering of sheet music. They also authorize recording student performances. What can be copied in accordance with the circumstances follows:
- For a performance, emergency copying is permitted so long as replacement copies are subsequently purchased.
- Academic purposes other than performance (single copies for personal or library reserve use). An entire performable unit (section, movement, aria, etc.) if the unit is out of print or only available in a larger work.
- Multiple copies for classroom use (non-performance use), where excerpts may comprise no more than 10 percent of a whole work and may not constitute a performable unit.
- For musical recordings, a single copy may be made for the purpose of constructing aural exercises or examinations. Otherwise the restrictions on the copying non-music recordings apply.
Music Performed Live
When music is performed live and on campus, the performance is subject to Luther’s public performance guidelines. This includes music played during sporting events.
Recordings
Public display and performance of copyrighted works, such as recordings, in the classroom or in an online teaching environment is covered under Section 110 of US Copyright Law.
When pre-recorded music is played outside of the classroom there is not only a performance of the musical work but also the particular recording. Under copyright law, however, the owner of a copyright in a musical recording, as distinct from copyright owner of the underlying composition, does not have the exclusive right to perform the record publicly. Therefore, when pre-recorded music is performed, only the performance of the underlying composition need be analyzed under the statutory provisions governing performances to ensure compliance with the copyright law.
On the other hand, the owner of a copyright in a musical recording does have the exclusive right to reproduce the recording. Therefore, when pre-recorded music is copied, for example by making a tape of a song on a compact disc, the exclusive rights of both the owner of the copyright in the recording and the owner of the copyright in the composition may be infringed.
Public performance of a copyrighted work on campus generally will involve licensing that work for display under copyright law. This includes dramatic productions, readings, and displays of film, video, or audio that are made available for a general audience to attend or view (and not limited to enrolled students in a course). This covers both events held at a particular location and time, and broadcast via cable television on campus. Any performance that takes place on campus will generally be considered a public performance; even sporting events.
Musical Performances
Permission to perform copyrighted works of music may be obtained through ASCAP and BMI, two companies that Luther College has performance agreements with.
Contact the Campus Programming Office to request performance permission through ASCAP and BMI. Any music or dramatic work not covered by these agreements requires permission from the copyright owner, and individuals or groups desiring to use such works must seek permission of the copyright owner.
Additionally, permission to perform a dramatic work does not automatically give license to videotape the performance. If the dramatic work is protected by copyright, permission is required to videotape a performance as well as retain and distribute that videotape.
Film Screenings
Public film screenings require a public performance license. Generally, films owned by the Library or individually purchased DVDs do not come with public performance rights. You can often acquire a one-time public performance license from a third-party licensing company like Criterion or Swank. For independent films you may need to contact the rights holder individually.
No License Needed
Public performances of copyrighted works are permitted under certain circumstances without seeking permissions. Generally speaking, public performances of dramatic works (such as films, plays, musicals, etc.) are acceptable without a license when:
- when a performance takes place in the course of a face-to-face teaching activity.
- when it is conducted in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction.
- in the case of an audiovisual work, when the copy has been lawfully made.
If in doubt, you should seek permission from the copyright holder.
Luther recommends that faculty place a statement regarding copyright in course syllabi. Sample text is offered below:
Participation in this course affirms an intent to comply with all Luther College policies and United States Law regarding use of copyrighted materials. Some of the materials used in this course are possibly copyrighted. They are intended for use only by students registered and enrolled in this course and only for instructional activities associated with and for the duration of the course. They may not be retained in another medium or disseminated further. This may include handouts, lectures, notes, study guides, copied materials of third parties, or other items. More information regarding copyright, Luther College policies, and U.S. Copyright Law is available at http://www.luther.edu/library/copyright.
Sample text for courses that include student performance:
Participation in this course grants Luther College non-exclusive and perpetual rights to record, archive, and reproduce creative works and interpretations of participants for use and distribution by the College without additional written consent.
Library
Preus Library
700 College Dr
Decorah, IA 52101
Fall Term Hours
Mon.-Thur.: 7:30 a.m. – Midnight
Fri.: 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sat.: 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sun.: Noon – Midnight
Finals Week Hours
Sun., Dec. 10: 11:00 a.m. – Midnight
Mon.-Wed.., Dec. 11-13: 7:30 a.m. – Midnight
Thurs., Dec. 14: 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 15: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Phone: 563-387-1166