Copyright

DISCLAIMER: Information found in this guide is not intended to be legal advice.  This is a guide to copyright laws and issues, in the United States, generated by librarians at the University Libraries.  

Using Resources in the Classroom

Instructors can keep in mind that United States copyright laws provide for exceptions to the rights of copyright holders when nonprofit educational institutions and libraries are involved. For example, there are at least three areas of the copyright statute that consistently apply to instructors:

• Teachers and students have certain rights for public displays of copyrighted works in the classroom (Section 110 of U.S. Copyright Law).
• Libraries and archives have special exemptions for the reproduction of copyrighted works in some circumstances (Section 108 of U.S. Copyright Law).
• “Fair Use” allows limited copying of copyrighted works without permission of the owner in certain cases and circumstances (Section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law).

The suggestions on this page are not intended to constitute exact descriptions of U.S. law and do NOT ensure legal protection under fair use or other provisions. Rather, the content here provides a basic framework for practices commonly considered to fall under fair use. While fair use exceptions are intended to be flexible, instructors are encouraged to examine their situations carefully before making determinations in regard to usage of copyrighted works.

• Fair Use
• TEACH Act

Course Reserves LibGuide

University Libraries offers e-reserves and physical reserves for materials which are required course readings.  Visit the Course Reserves LibGuide for more information on using and accessing resources. 

Copyright in the Classrooms

Multiple copies for classroom use

• Multiple print or digital copies of articles, book chapters, or other works may be made for classroom use or discussion provided that:
• There is a clear connection between the work being copied and the instructor’s pedagogical purpose
• The amount copied is tailored to include only what is appropriate for the instructor’s specific educational goals
• The access to works distributed online is provided only for the duration of the course for which they are provided, and limited to students enrolled in a course and other appropriate individuals (e.g. teaching assistants for the course)
• Each copy includes full attribution in a form satisfactory to scholars in that field

Single copies for classroom use

• A chapter from a book
• An article from a periodical or newspaper
• A short story, short essay or short poem, whether or not from a collective work
• A chart, graph, diagram, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper

Some examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use

• Quotation of excerpts in a review for purposes of illustration, criticism or comment
• Quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification
• Parody of the content of the work
• A summary of an article, with brief quotations
• Reproduction of a small part of a work by a teacher or student to illustrate a lesson
• Reproduction of a legislative report or judicial proceeding

This information has been used with permission, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, from the University of California.

Board of Regents Policies

4:34 - Intellectual Property

South Dakota Board of Regents Policy on Intellectual Property "sets forth the principles and procedures through which the Board balances the rights of creators, the interests of the public and its obligations under federal law in the management of intellectual properties created by faculty members, other employees and students contributing to sponsored or faculty-directed research."

7:1 - Acceptable Use of Information Technology Systems

Additional information on the South Dakota Board of Regents policy can be found in section 7:1, which covers the "Acceptable Use of Information Technology Systems."

Office of Research & Sponsored Programs

Office of Research & Sponsored Programs

For additional information on personal ownership of works, please visit the Copyright page of the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs site.

Research & Sponsored Programs: Intellectual Property (IP) Ownership

For information regarding IP ownership as an employee of the University of South Dakota.