Copyright Policy

The Copyright Act of 1976 provides important exceptions to copyright owners' exclusive reproduction and distribution rights. The "Fair Use" exception permits copying without a copyright owner's permission for purposes such as scholarship, research or teaching. It authorizes the making of multiple copies for classroom use under certain circumstances and where the use is reasonable and not harmful to the rights of the copyright owner.

The Copyright Act does not attempt to specify precisely what uses might be fair but leaves that determination to a case-by-case decision. Fair use provisions of the law were purposely designed to be broad so they could be widely applied to a variety of educational situations. In determining whether a particular instance of copying could be considered "fair use," a person must consider four factors:

  1. The purpose and character of the use
    - nonprofit educational purpose
    - no charge is made for the copies
    - the original and the copy do not serve the same function
  2. The nature of the copyrighted work
    - is a compilation of facts or information rather than a creative work
    - is out-of-print or unavailable for purchase through normal channels
    - is not a workbook
    - is a newspaper or periodical containing articles of current interest
  3. The amount and substantiality of the work
    - is a small portion of the total work; and
    - does not contain a substantial amount of the essence or principal elements of the work.
  4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for the work
    - does not supplant a portion of the market for the work
    - does stimulate sales of the work

Additional information is available from the United States Copyright Office.
See also Faculty Resource Links: Copyright and Plagiarism

The Policy

Mohawk Valley Community College copyright practices and procedures comply with the Copyright Law of 1978. The College's policies, as set forth below, derive from the recommendations of several national educational ad hoc copyright study committees generally acknowledged to be working on behalf of the education community. Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-For-Profit Educational Institutions, "School Rerecording of Public and Instructional Television Programs," and the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) Guidelines were written by representatives of various educational organizations to list specific, quantitative standards for minimum fair use copying including both single copying by teachers and multiple copying for classroom use. MVCC abides by these guidelines.

  1. PERSONAL RESEARCH USE
    Faculty may make a single copy of any of the following for scholarly research or use in teaching or preparing to teach a class:
    1. chapter from a book
    2. article from a periodical or newspaper
    3. short story, short essay, or short poem
    4. chart, diagram, graph, drawing, cartoon or picture
  2. CLASSROOM USE
    1. A faculty member may distribute photocopied materials to students in a class, without obtaining prior permission to make multiple copies from the copyright owner, provided all conditions listed below are met:
      1. Distribution of the same material does not occur every semester
      2. Only one copy is distributed to each student and that copy is the student's property
      3. The material includes a copyright notice on the first page of the photocopied material
      4. No charge is made beyond the actual cost of reproduction
    2. Additional Requirements:
      1. Brevity
        1. For prose: in its entirety if less than 2500 words. Otherwise, the copy should not exceed 1000 words, or 10% of the work, whichever is less
        2. For poetry: 250 words
        3. For illustrations: 1
    3. Spontaneity and cumulative effect
      1. the copying is at the instance and inspiration of the faculty member
      2. the decision to use the material for maximum teaching effectiveness does not allow sufficient time to request permission prior to its use.
      3. the copying of the material is for only one course
      4. the copying is not done repeatedly from the same materials
      5. there are not more that nine separate instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term.
    4. Duplication which always requires copyright permission:
      1. Repetitive copying. The classroom use of photocopied materials in multiple courses or in successive semesters will require advance permission from the copyright owner;
      2. Consumable works. The duplication of works that are consumed in the classroom, such as exercises and workbooks, require permission from the copyright owner;
      3. Anthologies. Copying used to create or replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations, or collective works. However, if copies of various works or excerpts are cumulated or reproduced and used separately, then they may not need permission;
      4. Media software. Duplication of media software requires prior advance permission of the copyright holder.
    5. Off-air Videorecordings
      1. Off-air videorecordings may be made only by MVCC faculty, staff, or students.
      2. Such rerecordings will be used solely for classroom, auditorium, or laboratory exhibition in the course of classroom instruction or related educational activities.
      3. These rerecordings will be used only at MVCC and will not be given away, loaned, or otherwise made available outside MVCC.
      4. These rerecordings will be used only during the seven-day period of local educational television and other educational broadcast licensed by the distribution agency, and will be erased or destroyed immediately at the end of that seven-day period except to the extent specifically authorized in writing by the distributing agency.
      5. Commercial television programs generally refuse to allow off-the- air recording without permission. However under Sections 108 and 118 of the Copyright Law, educational institutions were given the right to record newscasts and certain public broadcasts.

Library Use

  1. Reserves
    1. The Copyright Law prohibits the Libraries or their employees from engaging in the "related or concerted reproduction of multiple copies of the same material" without permission of the copyright holder.
      1. One photocopy of an article may be placed on reserve for student use.
      2. Additional photocopies of that article must have advance permission from the copyright holder.
      3. To allow for sufficient time for copyright permission to be secured for more than the single photocopy or for additional materials to be ordered, faculty members should present their requests for photocopied reserve materials to the Circulation Librarian or designee six weeks before the material is to be placed on reserve.
    2. Interlibrary Loan
      1. The National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) Guidelines limit the Libraries to no more than five requests a year for copies of any article or articles published in a given periodical within the past five years. This limitation is imposed so that libraries do not use photocopying as a substitute for purchasing a periodical subscription.
      2. The Interlibrary Loan Librarian is responsible to review records of interlibrary loan photocopy requests to determine that they meet the CONTU Guidelines and the fair use provisions of the Copyright Law.

Academic Use of Personal Computer Software

Obtaining Copyright Permission

For assistance in obtaining permission from a copyright owner, please call the Library at (315) 792-5399 or (315) 731-5737. The Library will handle all correspondence with the copyright holder and will pay the fees necessary to obtain permission. For questions regarding computer software, please call Information Technology at: 315.792.5711.