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Copyright compliance policy

Purpose

SCAD is committed to complying with the United States Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. SCAD has enacted this Copyright Compliance Policy to encourage and promote legitimate use of copyrighted materials by its faculty, staff members, and students. SCAD expects all faculty, staff members, and students to comply with the Copyright Act and this policy. Compliance is particularly important with respect to digital technology.

What is protected by copyright?

The Copyright Act protects "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression," including:

  • Literary works, including books, periodicals, e-mails and computer programs;
  • Musical works, including any accompanying words;
  • Dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
  • Pantomimes and choreographic works;
  • Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works;
  • Motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
  • Sound recordings; and
  • Architectural works.

Copyright protection is available to both published and unpublished works and applies regardless of the form of the work, whether print, audio, video or electronic format. Section 106 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 106 grants copyright holders the exclusive right to:

  • Reproduce the work (i.e., make copies of the work);
  • Prepare derivative works (for example, a translation of a book in another language or an adaptation of a book into a screenplay);
  • Distribute the work to the public (including by sale, lease, rental or lending);
  • Perform the work publicly; and
  • Display the work publicly.

The law no longer requires a copyright notice on the work, and thus, the absence of such notice is not an indication that a work is protected by copyright.

Copyright protection does not extend to the following:

  • Works in the public domain;
  • Words and short phrases, such as names, titles, and slogans;
  • Facts; and
  • Ideas, processes, methods and systems, as distinguished from the particular manner in which they are expressed or described in writing.

Public domain refers to work that is available for unrestricted copying by the public at large without prior permission. Material that resides in the public domain includes works in which the copyright has expired; works created by employees of the United States government (this does not include works created by contractors or by state and local governments); and works donated to the public by authors or artists. Numerous changes in the term of copyright protection have made it difficult to determine whether a work is currently in the public domain. It is your responsibility to determine if a work is in the public domain.

Use of copyrighted materials

Pursuant to the Copyright Act and this policy, faculty, staff and students shall "use" all or part of a work protected by copyright only with the copyright holder's written permission, or if a legal exception applies (as discussed below). "Use" of a work includes any of the exclusive rights granted to copyright holders, as set forth above. Faculty, staff and students who place copyrighted materials on any website (e.g., the SCAD website, a faculty- or student-sponsored website, a public website, a password-protected website, etc.) are responsible for compliance with the Copyright Act and this policy.

Violations

Any faculty member, staff member or student who violates the Copyright Act and distributes copyrighted material, including unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing, may be sued by the copyright holder and is potentially subject to criminal and civilpenalties. Ignorance is no excuse and the penalties can be harsh. Thus, it is important that faculty, staff and students become familiar with this policy and comply with the law. If SCAD determines that any faculty member, staff member or student is in violation of this policy, such person shall be subject to disciplinary action.

Institutional penalties for Violation of Federal Copyright Laws

Unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, including distribution over peer-to-peer filesharing networks, may result in internal disciplinary adjudication or civil or criminal liabilities. Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to make files available to others for download and use. Copyright infringement may occur through the practice of copying and distributing protected work without the permission of the owner.

Any instances of peer-to-peer file sharing found on the SCAD network will be terminated immediately. SCAD will report any student offenders to the dean of students. Any internal action taken by SCAD does not shield a student, faculty. or staff member from potential liability claims from third parties.

Summary of Civil and Criminal Penalties for Violation of Federal Copyright Laws

Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, one or more of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner under section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). These rights include the right to reproduce or distribute a copyrighted work. In the filesharing context, downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes an infringement.

Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or "statutory" damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. For "willful" infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorneys’ fees.
For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505.

Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense. For more information, please see the website of the U.S. Copyright Office at copyright.gov.

Exceptions to the Copyright Act

There are exceptions to the exclusive rights granted to copyright holders. For example, the first sale doctrine states that an individual who has purchased a legal copy of a work may then resell or lend that copy. Other exceptions include the fair uses, performances and displays in face-to-face teaching, reproductions made by libraries, and the Technology, Education and Harmonization (TEACH) Act, which are discussed below.

Fair use

Section 107 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 107, allows a person to copy limited amounts of copyrighted material without requiring prior permission. The right of fair use is specifically applicable to teaching, research and scholarship. Its applicability and scope depends on the following four factors:

  • The purpose and character of the use.
    Fair use favors nonprofit educational and research uses. However, copies used in eduation but made or sold for profit weigh against fair use. Fair use is more likely when the copyrighted work is "transformative," altering the original work with new expression, meaning or message, such as a use commenting or criticizing the original work.
  • The nature of the copyrighted work.
    This factor is measured both quantitatively and qualitatively. No exact measures of allowable quantity exist in the law. Quantity must be evaluated relative to the length of the entire original and in light of the amount needed to serve a proper objective. Copying of an entire work usually weighs heavily against fair use. Copying even a small portion can weigh against fair use if the portion taken is the "heart of the work."
  • The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
    If copying potentially endangers or undermines the market value of the copyrighted work by acting as a substitute, this factor weighs against fair use. For example, a teacher cannot copy and distribute an entire textbook to students in a classroom. The more "transformative" a use is, the less likely there will be an adverse effect on the market for the original work.

These factors must be weighed and balanced to determine whether use is "fair" or not. Fair use is complicated and subject to differing interpretations, and there are no specific rules that strictly define how much of a work is an acceptable amount to use.

Performances and displays in face-to-face teaching

Section 110(1) of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 110(1), provides faculty members with a separate exception apart from fair use, namely the right to display and perform a copyrighted work in the classroom. Under this exception, a teacher may display or perform any work (including still images, music and movies) related to the curriculum, regardless of the medium, in the classroom. There are no limits and no permission is required. However, this exception only applies to face-to-face teaching, not distance education.

Library exceptions

Section 108 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 108, authorizes libraries to archive lost, stolen, damaged or deteriorating work; make copies for library patrons; and make copies for interlibrary loan. For information regarding library reserves, refer to the SCAD Library Reserves Policy.

TEACH Act — eLearning

The TEACH Act allows faculty members at accredited educational institutions to use "limited and reasonable portions" of a work that is protected by copyright in distance education (including on websites and by other digital means). The TEACH Act, however, is not as broad as the face-to-face rights provided in Section 110(1). The TEACH Act sets forth specific requirements and limitations that must be adhered to when digitally displaying or performing a copyrighted work in connection with distance education. These requirements are set forth in the SCAD eLearning and TEACH Act Policy.

Permission

When in doubt as to whether a work is or is not protected by copyright or whether a legal exemption applies (e.g., fair use), faculty, staff and students should request written permission from the copyright holder before using the work. Furthermore if an exception does not apply and the work is protected, then faculty, staff and students must obtain written permission before using the work. For periodicals, permission often may be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center. The Copyright Clearance Center manages copyright permissions for a large number of text publications but not for audio, video or other multimedia works. Visit the Copyright Clearance Center Web site at copyright.com.

Guidelines for compliance

For specific examples of uses of copyrighted material that are permissible, refer to the SCAD Copyright Compliance Guidelines.