0.8 Universities and copyright  (Page 3/5)

Students own works – as humble as class notes and as exalted as a new sonata for flute and violin – is protected by copyright as soon as it is recorded in a fixed medium. If a student’s work is infringed, the case can be taken to court even before the work is registered, but the award is limited to actual damages. Often a settlement can be reached out of court. Music created by students is copyrighted as soon as it is recorded or transcribed to paper. If new music is only sung or played, it does not have copyright protection.

Many students share their work online in order to gain fans, potential customers, or colleagues in shared areas of research. If a work is registered with Creative Commons or with the Copyright Office, before being posted, then it is clear that it is not being made available for any use without consideration. Even if the work is not registered either way, putting a copyright symbol © on it and a brief statement of ownership (“This item is copyrighted in 2010 by Julia Smith”) can deter some potential infringers.

The vast majority of works (music, art, photography, writings, etc) found online are protected by copyright. With the high-bandwidth Internet available on most university campuses, students are in a position to infringe on lots of copyrighted materials. However, if students establish permission or a license to use the material (usually by purchase), they are not infringing. Some items are registered with Creative Commons or otherwise labeled as “available for free download.” Students can search for Creative Commons-registered items at this search page: (External Link) . (Creative Commons 2010b) The “Yahoo” search engine provides another search page. If you select “All search services,” one service is a “Creative Commons” search. (External Link) (Yahoo! 2010).

Creative Commons licensed works are not all alike. There are 11 possible combinations of licenses an artist can select. Most creators require attribution; some do not allow derivative works or require derivative works to carry the same Creative Commons registration as the original work. Some creators will allow their work to be used in commercial settings; others do not allow such use. Anyone using a Creative Commons licensed work should check its license and use it accordingly. (Creative Commons 2010a)

1. What copyright rights and responsibilities do university faculty members have?

Teaching faculty often use materials published by others, either during class or as assigned readings. A common belief is that so long as it’s an educational use, any use is permitted. While there is a generous allowance for face-to-face teaching in §110, (see Chapter 4) some uses do require permission from the copyright owner. In a setting where repeated, systematic copying of the same item occurs, it is a time to consider paying for copyright clearance. If an article is made available in the course management system (such as Blackboard) over multiple semesters, it is also a time to consider paying for copyright clearance. Although the Blackboard page is password-protected and not available to the public, if an article is made available to students semester after semester, the volume of lost copies (to the publisher) can be enough to affect the “amount of the work used” category in the Fair Use factors. If the article is available in a database licensed by the university, a link directly to it can be placed in a Blackboard page. If this is done, the student will be reading, or printing, directly from the licensed copy and not from a copy created and distributed by the instructor in the Blackboard environment.