Publishing companies have filed lawsuits against photocopying centers for copyright infringement that involve colleges and faculty members. Sometimes, instructors produce course packs for sale in the bookstore, but don't seek the required copyright permission for the materials they have included. Faculty members need to know and follow copyright requirements to protect themselves. They also need to set a good example for their students.
Faculty members in the traditional classroom probably have the most freedom to use copyrighted materials in their teaching under the educational use exemption compared to online and video courses. "Fair use" permits the use of copyrighted works in the classroom without permission under limited circumstances. However, fair use is influenced by the effect on the potential market for the copyrighted work, purpose and character of the use, etc. Certainly, all spontaneity is lost when a teacher makes enough photocopies of a handout to last through several semesters of instruction or when developing course packs to sell in the bookstore.
Check your campus library or one of many related Web sites for books and magazine articles on use of copyrighted materials in the classroom. A brief overview of copyright issues may be found on the
Library of Congress website.
Copyrightable materials produced by DMACC are protected from theft and misuse to safeguard the College's investment and integrity. See Loading... Copyrighting Educational Production for details on DMACC produced materials.
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