Copyright & the Classroom

A textbook hasn't arrived for the first week of the semester. The professor wishes to place a copy of the first chapter in Canvas for her students to read.

      Fair Use Assessment

1. + Purpose: The copy of the chapter is for educational use.
2. + Nature: The copy of the chapter is from a published book that is probably more factual than creative.
3. + Portion: A single chapter is (likely) a small portion of the book.
4. + Effect: There is no market harm because the students have paid for the books. Furthermore, only they would have access to this copy.

Permissible:  Since all four factors weigh in favor of Fair Use, this is a strong case for permissible use.

A faculty member would like to copy and post 10 pages from a diary that the library owns on his Canvas course page.

      Fair Use Assessment

1. + Purpose: The copy of 10 pages is for educational purposes.
2. – Nature: The diary is creative and likely unpublished.
3. + Portion: The 10 pages are a small part of the diary.
4. + Effect: The diary is not for sale and is not likely to be made available for sale.

Permissible: The creative nature of the diary and the fact that it is not published weighs against Fair Use, but the other factors weigh heavily for Fair Use.

A professor has an out-of-print book that she would like her online students to read. She plans to copy the book and make it available to her students on Canvas.

      Fair Use Assessment

1. + Purpose: The copy of the out-of-print book for educational use.
2. + Nature: The book was published and more factual than creative.
3. - Portion: The entire book would be copied.
4. + Effect: Since the book is out-of-print, there is likely no market loss from sales of the book to the Copyright owner.

Not Permissible: Factors 1, 2, and 4 weigh in favor of Fair Use, but factor 3 weighs heavily against Fair Use. Just because a book is out of print does not mean it is no longer under Copyright protection.  In certain instances, it might be permissible to copy an entire book, but other options should be pursued first.

Permissible Alternative: The professor could seek permission from the Copyright owner to provide a digitized copy of the book in Canvas or could select some (but not all) of the book to copy, thus reducing the portion used. 

An instructor plans to copy multiple journal articles and book chapters to create a course pack to be sold to students by the campus print shop.

      Fair Use Assessment

1. + Purpose: The copy of multiple journal articles and book chapters is for educational use.
2. +-Nature: The articles and book chapters are published but also creative.
3. + Portion: The articles and book chapters are probably not a substantial part of the journals or books from which they came.
4. – Effect: Selling the copied content deprives the copyright holders of the money they might have made from sales

Not Permissible: Factors 1 and 3 weigh in favor of Fair Use. But factor 2 weighs partially against it and factor 4 weighs heavily against it. It is not permissible even if there is no profit made.

Permissible Alternative: If the bookstore, instructor, or academic school/department were to license the selections by paying fees to the copyright holders, the course pack could be printed and sold by the bookstore.

A teacher wants to show her students in class 10 minutes from a movie using her Netflix account. Afterwards she plans to help the students analyze the clip from a Christian perspective.

Not Permissible: No Fair Use assessment is necessary. The Netflix license agreement the teacher agreed to allows her only to view its movies in a private, home setting. Showing even 10 minutes of the movie to her students violates the license. Licenses normally supersede copyright. 

Permissible Alternative: Seek a physical or streaming copy from the library in order to show the clip.

1. + Purpose: The copy of the article is for educational use.
2. +-Nature: The copy of the article is creative and published in a magazine.
3. + Portion: A single article is a small portion of the magazine.
4. - Effect: This would undermine Christianity Today's ability to make a profit from this article, especially since it is online.

Not Permissible. Factors 1 and 3 weigh in favor of Fair Use. Factor 2 weighs in favor of Fair Use because it is published but against Fair Use because it is a creative work. Factor 4 weighs heavily against Fair Use.

  Permissible Alternative. It is advisable to get permission from Christianity Today before posting the article on her website.

1. + Purpose: The professor would be copying the article for educational use.
2. +-Nature: The copy of the article is creative and published.
3. + Portion: A single article is a small portion of the publication.
4. + Effect: This has little effect on sales since it has already been purchased by the faculty member, Cedarville University library, or Cedarville University.

Permissible. While factor 2 only weighs partly against Fair Use, factors 1, 3, and 4 weigh in favor of Fair Use.