For general information about copyright law see Copyright Basics from the U.S. Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html

What is Fair Use?
Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act allows works to be used in certain circumstances, such as educational pursuits, without permission from the copyright holder.   This Fair Use provision does not exempt educators and educational institutions from copyright violation in all circumstances.  

Consider the following four factors when determining if use of a copyrighted work constitutes fair use:

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. 

Guidelines for Use of Photocopies in the Classroom:

The purpose of the following guidelines is to state the minimum and not the maximum standards of educational fair use under Section 107 of HR 2223. The parties agree that the conditions determining the extent of permissible copying for educational purposes may change in the future; that certain types of copying permitted under these guidelines may not be permissible in the future, and conversely that in the future other types of copying not permitted under these guidelines may be permissible under revised guidelines.

Moreover, the following statement of guidelines is not intended to limit the types of copying permitted under the standards of fair use under judicial decision and which are stated in Section 107 of the Copyright Revision Bill. There may be instances in which copying which does not fall within the guidelines stated below may nonetheless be permitted under the criteria of fair use.

I. Single Copying for Teachers

A single copy may be made of any of the following or any part thereof by or for any faculty or staff member at his or her individual request:

A. A chapter from a book;

B. An article from a periodical or newspaper;

C. A short story, short essay or short poem, whether or not from a collective work;

D. A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.

II. Multiple Copies for Classroom Use:

Multiple copies (not to exceed in any event more than one copy per student in a course) may be made by or for the faculty giving the course for classroom use or discussion, provided that:

A. The copying meets the following tests of brevity and spontaneity as defined below; and,

B. Meets the cumulative effect test as defined below; and,

C. Each copy includes a notice of copyright

Definitions

Brevity

(i) Poetry: (a) A complete poem if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages or, (b) from a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words.

(ii) Prose: (a) Either a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or (b) an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, but in any event a minimum of 500 words.

[Each of the numerical limits stated in "i" and "ii" above may be expanded to permit the completion of an unfinished line of a poem or of an unfinished prose paragragh.]

(iii) Illustration: One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue.

(iv) "Special" works: Certain works in poetry, prose or in "poetic prose" which often combine language with illustrations and which are intended sometimes for children and at other times for a more general audience fall short of 2,500 words in their entirety. Paragraph "ii" above notwithstanding such "special works" may not be reproduced in their entirety; however, an excerpt comprising not more than two of the published pages of such special work and containing not more than 10% of the words found in the text thereof, may be reproduced.

Spontaneity

(i) The copying is at the instance and inspiration of the individual teacher, and

(ii) The inspiration and decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission.

Cumulative Effect

(i) The copying of the material is for only one course in the school in which the copies are made.

(ii) Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, nor more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term.

(iii) There shall not be more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term.

[The limitations stated in "ii" and "iii" above shall not apply to current news periodicals and newspapers and current news sections of other periodicals.]

III. Prohibitions:

Notwithstanding any of the above, the following shall be prohibited:

A. Copying may not be used to create or to replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works. A prohibited replacement or substitution occurs regardless of whether copies of various works or excerpts therefrom are accumulated or are reproduced and used separately.

B. There shall be no copying of or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or of teaching. These include workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and test booklets and answer sheets and like consumable material.

C. Copying shall not:

1. substitute for the purchase of books, publisher's reprints or periodicals;

2. be directed by higher authority; or

3. be repeated with respect to the same item by the same teacher from term to term.

D. No charge may be made to the student beyond the actual cost of the photocopying.

Guidelines for Educational Uses of Music:
The purpose of the following guidelines is to state the minimum and not the maximum standards of educational fair use under Section 107 of HR 2223. The parties agree that the conditions determining the extent of permissible copying for educational purposes may change in the future; that certain types of copying permitted under these guidelines may not be permissible in the future, and conversely that in the future other types of copying not permitted under these guidelines may be permissible under revised guidelines.

Moreover, the following statement of guidelines is not intended to limit the types of copying permitted under the standards of fair use under judicial decision and which are stated in Section 107 of the Copyright Revision Bill. There may be instances in which copying which does not fall within the guidelines stated below may nonetheless be permitted under the criteria of fair use.

A. Permissible Uses

1. Emergency copying to replace purchased copies which for any reason are not available for an imminent performance provided purchased replacement copies shall be substituted in due course.
2. For academic purposes other than performance, single or multiple copies of excerpts of works may be made, provided that the excerpts do not comprise a part of the whole which would constitute a performable unit such as a section, movement or aria, but in no case more than 10 percent of the whole work. The number of copies shall not exceed one copy per pupil
3. Printed copies which have been purchased may be edited or simplified provided that the fundamental character of the work is not distorted or the lyrics, if any, altered or lyrics added if none exist.
4. A single copy of recordings of performances by students may be made or evaluation or rehearsal purposes and may be retained by the educational institution or individual teacher.
5. A single copy of a sound recording (such as a tape, disc, or cassette) of copyrighted music may be made from sound recordings owned by an educational institution or an individual teacher for the purpose of constructing aural exercises or examinations and may be retained by the educational institution or individual teacher. (This pertains only to the copyright of the music itself and not to any copyright which may exist in the sound recording.)

B. Prohibitions

1. Copying to create or replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works.
2. Copying of or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or of teaching such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and answer sheets and like material.
3. Copying for the purpose of performance, except as in A(1) above.
4. Copying for the purpose of substituting for the purchase of music, except as in A(1) and A(2) above.
5. Copying without inclusion of the copyright notice which appears on the printed copy.

Video Screenings in the Classroom:
Those who want to show a video for entertainment purposes or to a public audience must seek permission from the copyright holder.  In many cases copyright holders require the purchase of performance rights to show their work.

For classroom video screenings to fall under Fair Use (not requiring permission from the copyright holder), the following guidelines must be met: 

1. The performance must be by instructors (including guest lecturers) or by pupils; and
2. The performance is in connection with face-to-face teaching activities; and
3. The entire audience is involved in the teaching activity; and
4. The entire audience is in the same room or same general area;
5. The teaching activities are conducted by a non-profit education institution; and

6. The performance takes place in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, such as a school library, gym, auditorium or workshop;

7. The videotape is lawfully made; the person responsible had no reason to believe that the videotape was unlawfully made.

The guidelines above are quoted from the American Library Association’s model copyright policy for libraries: http://www.ifla.org/documents/infopol/copyright/ala-1.txt

Performances of rented (“for home use only”) videos are permissible as long as they are shown in accordance with the guidelines above. 

Restrictions on Classroom Performance of Recorded Television Programs

Individuals who want to show a television broadcast in their classrooms must adhere to the Fair Use rules as well as the stipulations below.

• Programs may be recorded and shown to a class once, and repeated once for "reinforcement" during the first 10 teaching days following a broadcast.

• The recording may be retained on tape for 45 days and then must be erased or permission must be requested

• Pay broadcast channels such as HBO, Cinemax, etc., may not be recorded.

• Satellite programming may not be recorded without permission unless the programming is listed as "free" in a reputable satellite directory and the program is not scrambled or by subscription.

• Recording PBS programs for educational use and reuse sometimes is permissible.  See http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/copyright/copyright.shtm  for more information.

• Bringing programs recorded at home to school for teaching purposes is permissible if the above guidelines are met.

Quoted from Adoptable Copyright Policy: Copyright Policy and Manuals Designed for Adoption by Schools, Colleges & Universities by Charles W. VIcek, published by Copyright Information Services, Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Washington, D.C. 1992

Obtaining Permission to Use a Copyrighted Work:

Securing permission to use copyrighted materials can take several weeks.  Copyright holders often charge a fee for use of their works.

The Copyright Clearance Center can help you obtain permissions for many print publications:

Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
222 Rosewood Drive
Danvers, MA 01923
Tel: (508) 750-8400
Fax: (508) 750-4744
http://www.copyright.com/