Medicine: Copyright in Teaching

The U.S. Copyright Office gives some additional guidance about photocopying materials in "Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians" Circular 21. The guidelines allow for multiple copies for one-time distribution to students in a traditional classroom as long as the following conditions are met:

• Makes no more than one for each student
• Includes notice of copyright (Could be as simple as adding, "This work may be protected by copyright.")
• Is selective and sparing in choosing poetry, prose and illustrations
• The copying should not replace a textbook, anthology, or purchase of books, reprints or journals
• Consumable works, such as workbooks, exercises, and study guides, may not be reproduced
• Makes no charge to the student beyond actual cost of photocopying: and
• The copying meets the tests of "brevity," "spontaneity," and "cumulative effect."
  • Brevity: a short work or section of a work
  • Spontaneity: the copying is requested by the individual teacher and the decision to use the work is so close to the effective use in teaching that there is no time to seek permission.
  • Cumulative effect:
    • (1) the copying is only for one course in the school;
    • (2) not more than one short work or excerpts can be used from the same author and no more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume PER TERM;
    • (3) no more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one class during one term;
    • (4) newspaper articles and news sections of journals are exempted from the last two requirements.
• Copying of the same item by the same teacher should not be repeated over several years

The TEACH Act of 2002 addresses the use of works in online teaching. It allows instructors to digitally share materials that would reasonably be shared in a physical class setting. To use copyrighted works in Blackboard or other online systems, the following criteria must be met:

• Limit access to students currently enrolled in the class.
• The use of materials has to be under the direct supervision of the instructor.
• It has to be part of the class session and not something viewed before or after the class session; it must be part of a mediated instructional activity.
• Prevent further copying or redistribution of the work beyond the class session.

The TEACH Act is not as broad as fair use. It only covers use of materials during class time. Fair use covers the use of materials outside of class time.

For more information about the TEACH Act and how it applies, see this overview from Columbia University and the Copyright Crash Course from the University of Texas. 

To use non-library resources for teaching you will most likely need to make a fair use evaluation of each resource or item used.

• Fair use can be found in 17 U.S.C Section 107 (The Copyright Act).
• The preamble to fair use provides that reproduction of copyrighted works may be made for "purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research..."
• Fair use judgement made on a case-by-case basis. Not every educational use is a fair use. 

Fair use is based on a four-factor analysis

1. Purpose or character of the use (educational or professional)

2. Nature of the work (published vs. unpublished; factual vs. creative)

3. Amount and substantiality of portion used

4. Impact on the market for the work (including the market for permissions)

Use the fair use checklist from Columbia University to help you make an assessment. 

More information coming soon on linking to articles in Medicine databases.

For now, see the Linking to Articles guide with information on several other Belmont databases.