LibGuides: Copyright Basics for Faculty: Books

Classroom Guidelines

Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-For-Profit Educational Institutions with Respect to Books and Periodicals
The purpose of these guidelines is to state the minimum and not the maximum standards of educational fair use.
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Poetry
This code of best practices helps poets understand when they and others have the right to excerpt, quote and use copyrighted material in poetry.
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries, working with the Center for Social Media at American University, and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property in American University’s Washington College of Law, is preparing a code of best practices in fair use for academic and research libraries.

Faculty may not copy consumable items, such as workbooks, standardized tests, or answer sheets to share in class.

Digital Copyright Slider
Use this resource to determine if a work is in the public domain or still under copyright protection.

Question: May I copy an entire book?

Answer: No. Only books in the public domain (published before 1923) may be copied in their entirety.

Question: May I photocopy a book chapter to share in class?

Answer: Yes, you may make one copy of a chapter for each student in the class when

the chapter the instructor copies represents a relatively small amount of the entire book (10% is a rule of thumb, but not a legal defense), AND
there is no time to request permission before you want to use the chapter in class, AND
it is copied only for this one course and only for this one semester, AND
the instructor has not already copied a chapter by this author or three other chapters from this book, AND
the instructor includes a copyright notice on the copy.

Question: Is there a limit to the number of chapters I may copy each semester?

Answer: Yes, nine times, whether the copying is articles, chapters, charts, poems, or some other short creative work.

Question: If I want to use the same chapter next semester, do I have to get permission from the copyright owner?

Yes. This will usually require you to pay a copyright fee, which is based upon the number of pages copied and the number of copies made.

Question: Is there a way I may use the chapter without copying it?

Answer: Yes, place a copy of the book on reserve in the library, which students may check out for two hours at a time.

Question: I want to use several chapters from a book of readings, but I do not want to make the students purchase the book? What are my options?

Answer:

Option #1: If it is the first time you have used chapters from this book, you may photocopy up to 10% of the book and distribute a copy to each student in your class.
Option #2: If you have used chapters from this book for more than one semester, you cannot photocopy and distribute copies in subsequent semesters. This is copyright infringement. You may, however, put a copy of the book on reserve so students can come to the library to access the readings.
Option #3: If the class in which you want to use the readings is online, the Libraries may scan the chapters and put them on electronic reserve. The first time you use the readings, the Libraries claim "fair use" and do not pay copyright fees. Subsequent uses require the Libraries to pay copyright fees.