Compliance with the 1976 US Copyright Law

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Deputy Superintendent, Curriculum and Instruction

DISTRIBUTION: All Schools and Offices

ROUTING : Administrators, Teachers, Library Media Personnel, School Administrative Assistants, Technology Coordinators

SUBJECT: BULLETIN NO. M-43 (Rev.) COMPLIANCE WITH THE 1976 UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LAW

DATE: May 18, 1998

DIVISION: Instructional Services

APPROVED: CARMEN N. SCHROEDER, Interim Assistant Superintendent

For further information, please call Janet Minami, Director, Media Services, at (213) 625-6971; Victor Lamkay, Director, Instructional Television Services, at (213) 625-6958 x8504; Sue Quinn, Supervisor, Audiovisual Services, at (213) 625-6982; and Andy Rogers, Coordinator, Information Technology Division, at (213) 633-1622.

This revision replaces Office of the Associate Superintendent, Instruction, Bulletin No. 43 (Rev.), with the same title, dated September 17, 1990. The content has been revised to reflect current District policy and updated to address new technological issues.

I. DISTRICT POLICY

The Los Angeles Unified School District and all its employees are subject to the pro-visions of the Copyright Act of 1976. Teachers, administrators, library media teachers, and other District personnel will take an active role in assuring compliance with the United States copyright law and congressional guidelines.

The District does not sanction illegal use or duplication in any form. Unlawful copies of copyrighted materials may not be produced or used on District-owned equipment, within District-owned facilities, or at District-sponsored functions. Employees who knowingly and/or willingly violate the District’s copyright policies do so at their own risk and may be required to remunerate the District in the event of a loss due to litigation.

II. RESPONSIBILITIES OF DISTRICT PERSONNEL

Establishing procedures
Principals or administrators are responsible for establishing procedures that will enforce the copyright law at the school or office site. They are to present copyright policies to staff members periodically as a reminder of their rights and responsibilities under the law. Attachment A provides sample scenarios to stimulate discussion.
Photocopying machines and recording devices

Personnel in charge of photocopying machines and recording devices are to ensure that those who use the equipment are aware that it is illegal to infringe upon copyright. A notice entitled "Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions" is required by law to be displayed prominently at places where orders for copies of materials are accepted by libraries or archives. The wording and format of the notice required by law appear in Attachment B. This notice is also required by law on any form that is used to request copying service. A sample order form and the legal notice to be used appear in Attachment C.

The following notice is to be posted on videorecorders and computers to educate and warn personnel about the existence of the copyright law: MANY VIDEOTAPED MATERIALS AND COMPUTER PROGRAMS ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT, 17 U.S.C. SECTION 101. UNAUTHORIZED COPYING MAY BE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Computer software license agreements

All school sites and work locations must maintain a file of their computer software site license agreements.

III. BACKGROUND

The U.S. joined the Berne Convention, an international copyright treaty, in 1989. Since Berne does not require formal copyright notices on works, the U.S. no longer requires it. This means that works should be considered copyrighted if they are fixed in a tangible medium even if no copyright notice is included unless you know for sure that they are in the public domain, i.e., they are no longer under copyright protection or never have been copyrighted. For example, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is in the public domain. However, a rendering of the play in modern English, unless you know it is in the public domain, should be considered copyrighted even if there is no copyright notice. A work may be literary, musical, dramatic, pantomime, choreographic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, motion picture, other audiovisual, sound recording, or architectural.

A related topic to consider is public domain works incorporated into copyrighted works. The public domain sections of the work may be used; the copyrighted materials may be used only in accordance with the Copyright Act’s provisions, e.g., Section 107, fair use. Example: In an annotated version of Romeo and Juliet, the actual, original play is still in public domain and may be used. The annotation, however, may be copyrighted. If the annotation is copyrighted, it may only be used within the law’s limits such as fair use.

IV. FAIR USE

Section 107 identifies four criteria for judging fair use of copyrighted works for purposes such as criticism, scholarship, research, and teaching:

the purpose and character of the use, e.g., profit or nonprofit educational purposes;
the nature of the copyrighted work, e.g., fiction or nonfiction;
the amount and substantiality of the portion used; e.g., one sentence from a novel or eight lines from a sonnet; and,
the effect of the use upon the potential market.

To further clarify these criteria, various fair use guidelines have been formulated and approved by various publishers, producers, and educational organizations. These guidelines are not part of the Copyright Act, but do serve as indicators of acceptable, "safe harbor" usages.

V. FAIR USE GUIDELINES FOR CLASSROOM COPYING: BOOKS AND PERIODICALS

A. Single Copies for Teachers

For the purposes of scholarly research, teaching, or preparation to teach a class, a teacher may make a copy (or request a copy be made) of a book chapter; periodical/newspaper article; short story, short essay, or short poem; or a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.

B. Multiple Copies for Classroom Use

Multiple copies, i.e., one copy per pupil in a class, may be made by or for the teacher presenting the course for classroom use provided that the copying meets the tests of brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect and includes a copyright notice.

1. Brevity

Poetry: Maximum of 250 words. This may be a complete poem if printed on one to two pages or an excerpt from a longer poem.

Prose: A complete article, story, or essay of less than 2,500; an excerpt of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less. However, works combining language and illustrations, such as picture books, which fall short of 2,500 words in their entirety, may NOT be reproduced in their entirety. Personnel may copy not more than two published pages containing less than 10% of the words found in the text.

2. Spontaneity

An individual teacher requests the copying NOT the department, school, district, etc.
The decision to use the work with a class and the date on which the copy is used are so close together, permission to copy would not be received in time.

3. Cumulative effect

The copied material is for only one course in the school.
During a class term, only one short poem, article, story, essay, or two excerpts from the same author may be copied; no more than three from the same collective work.
During a class term, no more than 9 instances of multiple copying for one course.
The last two limitations above do not apply to current news periodicals, newspapers, and current news sections of other periodicals.

4. Prohibitions

No copying to create or substitute for anthologies, compilations, or collective works.
No copying of consumables, e.g., workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, answer sheets.
No copying to substitute for actual purchases of books, reprints, or periodicals.
No copying because higher authority directed it.
No copying the same item from semester to semester.

VI. FAIR USE GUIDELINES FOR MUSIC

A. Permissible Uses

1. Emergency copying for an imminent performance provided purchased replacement copies shall be substituted in a timely manner.

2. Multiple copies (i.e., one per student) of excerpts not constituting an entire performance unit or more than 10% of the whole work.

3. Purchased sheet music edited or simplified provided the character of the work is not distorted or the lyrics altered or added if none existed.

4. A single copy of a recorded performance by students to be retained by the school or individual teacher for evaluation or rehearsal purposes.

5. A single copy of a recording of copyrighted music owned by the school or an individual teacher for constructing exercises or examinations and retained by the school or the teacher.

B. Prohibitions

1. Copying to create, replace, or substitute for anthologies, compilations, or collected works.

2. Copying works intended to be consumable, e.g., workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, and answer sheets.

3. Copying for the purpose of performance, except in emergencies as noted above.

4. Copying to substitute for purchase of music.

5. Copying without inclusion of the copyright notice on the copy.

VII. FAIR USE GUIDELINES FOR OFF-AIR VIDEOTAPING

A. Broadcast Television

Broadcast programs, i.e., television programs transmitted by television stations for reception by the general public without charge, may be recorded off-air simultaneously with broadcast transmission, including simultaneous cable transmission. Copying programs from pay TV services such as HBO and the Disney Channel is illegal unless permission is obtained (see Cable Broadcasts below).
Videotaped recordings may be kept for no more than 45 calendar days after the recording date, at which time the tapes must be erased.
Videotaped recordings may be shown to students only within the first 10 consecutive school days of the 45-day retention period. Afterwards, they may be used for evaluation purposes only.
Off-air recordings need not be used in their entirety, but the recorded programs may not be altered from their original content or combined for teaching anthologies or compilations.
Schools and separate units are expected to establish appropriate control procedures to maintain the integrity of these guidelines. A sample off-air recording form appears in Attachment D.
An individual teacher must make requests for off-air videotaping. No program may be recorded off-air more than once at the request of the same teacher.

B. KLCS-TV, Channel 58

For information about broadcasts for which the District has secured copyright clearance or longer retention rights, please refer to the Catalog of Instructional Television Programs and Services or call Victor Lamkay, KLCS TV, Channel 58, at 213/625-6958.

C. Cable Broadcasts

For information about cable broadcasts check, e.g., Cable in the Classroom, for rights and restrictions.

VIII. GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF VIDEOTAPES AND FILMS

For videos and films rented, sold, or taped at home, copyright law provisions and District policies must be followed.

They must be shown as part of a systematic course of instruction in face-to-face teaching activities and not for recreational, entertainment, or fund-raising purposes without a public performance license.
Videocassettes of copyrighted materials, even though labeled "for home use only," may be used for classroom teaching purposes pursuant to Section 110(1) of the copyright law.
All educational off-taping guidelines apply to at-home taping when tapes are brought to school for classroom instruction.
For videos taped at home, a record keeping system that guarantees compliance with the federal guidelines is to be developed at the office or school site.
Videocassettes and films borrowed from the District’s AV Media Library or purchased by an office or school site may not be copied or transferred from one format to another.

IX. GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Staff members and students are to be made aware of the legal, ethical, and practical problems caused by software piracy and illegal access to any database, electronic bulletin board, web site, CD-ROM, or similar electronic delivery format.
It is permissible to make a backup copy of a legally owned software program to keep as an archival copy in the event the original disk fails to function. Archival copies cannot be used on a second computer at the same time the original is in use.
Loading the contents of one disk or CD-ROM into multiple computers for use at the same time is prohibited without a special license, lab pack arrangement, or permission from the copyright owner.
Software programs may be distributed via a LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network) only if the copyright owner’s permission has been obtained.
Loading a CD-ROM into a hard drive in order to increase the speed of information retrieval requires permission from the copyright owner.
When software is to be used on a file-serving system, efforts must be made to prevent this software from being copied.

X. FAIR USE GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATIONAL MULTIMEDIA

NOTE: Adopted September 27, 1996, by the U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, as a nonlegislative report. These guidelines refer to multimedia projects created by students and teachers for their own use to meet specific instructional objectives.

In general, the portions used must be from lawfully acquired copyrighted works. The multimedia projects created incorporate the copyrighted material with the student’s or teacher’s original materials. Other fair use guidelines may apply in specific cases, e.g., those for off-air taping.

A. Students

1. May incorporate portions of lawfully acquired copyrighted works into their multimedia projects for a specific course.

2. May perform and display these projects in the course for which they were created.

3. May keep them in their portfolios as examples of their academic work.

4. Need to follow the copyright guidelines.

5. The portion limitations apply cumulatively to each student’s project(s) for the same academic semester, cycle, or term.

B. Teachers

1. May incorporate portions of lawfully acquired copyrighted works into multimedia programs they create to support their curriculum-based instructional activities.

2. May perform and display these programs to students in face-to-face instruction or as assigned, directed self-study.

3. May perform or display these programs at workshops and conferences for their peers.

4. May retain a copy of these programs for their personal portfolios.

5. The portion limitations apply cumulatively to each teacher’s project(s) for the same academic semester, cycle, or term.

C. Time, Portion, Copying, and Distribution Limitations

1. Time

Teachers may use their educational multimedia projects for teaching for up to two years after the first instructional use with a class. After that, permission must be obtained for each copyrighted portion included in the program.

2. Portion

Motion media: 10% or three minutes, whichever is less.
Text material: 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less; entire poem of less than 250 words but no more than three poems by one poet or five poems by different poets from any anthology; for longer poems, 250 words may be used, but only three excerpts by a poet or five excerpts by different poets from a single anthology.
Music, lyrics, and music video: Up to 10%, but no more than 30 seconds from an individual musical work or the total extracts from an individual work; any alterations to the musical work should not change the basic melody or the fundamental character of the work.
Illustrations and photographs: No more than five images by an artists or photographer; when from a published collective work, not more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less.
Numerical data sets: 10% or 2500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less, from a copyrighted database or data table. (Field entry is specific item of information such as a name or Social Security number in a database record. Cell entry is the intersection of a row and column on a spreadsheet.)

3. Copying and distribution

Teachers may make no more than two copies of their multimedia programs, only one of which may be placed on reserve in, e.g., the library media center or computer lab. An archival copy may be made, but only used or copied to replace a lost, stolen, or damaged copy.

4. Ask for permission

When teachers or students want to commercially reproduce and distribute their project(s).
For use of projects over electronic networks.

5. Reminders

Apply caution when incorporating works downloaded from the Internet.
Credit sources and display the copyright notice. Give the full bibliographic citation. The copyright notice includes ©, year of first publication, and the name of the copyright holder, e.g. Copyright © 1997 by LAUSD.
Include a notice on the opening screen that certain materials are used under fair use and are restricted from further use.
These guidelines do not preempt licenses or contracts.

XI. GUIDELINES FOR USE OF THE INTERNET

LAUSDnet users are bound by the LAUSDnet Acceptable Use Policy. Violations of this policy, including copyright infringement, will result in the loss of the LAUSDnet account.
The author of an e-mail message effectively owns the copyright in the message. Therefore, e-mail messages should not be posted to discussion groups, newsgroups, and the like without permission of the author. Please note that e-mail is NOT private. E-mail messages may be monitored to ensure compliance with the LAUSDnet Acceptable Use Policy.
Duplicating a World Wide Web site, or portion of a site, for use in another web site is prohibited without the explicit permission of the author.
Before creating a link to another web site, it is considered courteous to request permission from that site’s owner.
When creating a World Wide Web site for school or personal use, pictures or text that have a copyright may not be used without the permission of the copyright owner.

XII. REQUESTING PERMISSION TO USE COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS

Beyond the limits of fair use, educators must request permission to use copyrighted materials. Most copyright owners will grant permission for one-time use of parts of their works without charge or upon payment of a minimal fee. Blanket permission should not be requested. Such permission cannot, in most cases, be granted. A sample request for permission appears in Attachment E.

# # #

ATTACHMENT A

SAMPLE SCENARIOS

Q. A teacher wants to load a computer program on all the computers in the school's computer lab for a special lesson. Is this permissible?

A. No. To load a software program on all the lab's computers requires a site license, lab pack arrangement, or permission from the copyright owner.

Q. A workbook accompanies the textbook adopted for use in a class. May the teacher make class sets of several pages of the workbook?

A. No. Copying consumables is prohibited under the fair use guidelines.

Q. Knowing that graphics help capture attention, a teacher includes an appropriate strip from "Zits" (a copyrighted comic strip) on an assignment sheet. Is this permissible?

A. Not without permission from the comic strip’s copyright owner. However, graphics from "PrintShop" and similar clip art programs may be used.

Q. May a teacher caption a television show taped off the air?

A. Not without permission of the copyright owner.

Q. May a teacher show a videotape labeled "home use only" to a class? At an assembly?

A. Teachers may show videotapes labeled "home use only" in class as long as the video is part of a systematic course of instruction and not for recreational, entertainment, or fund-raising purposes.

Q. The school purchases an instructional program that includes audiocassettes. May a back up copy of the audiocassettes be made?

A. No.

Q. Tonight, ABC is airing a special about World War I. May a teacher request that the show be taped off-the-air for use tomorrow in class? May the history department chairperson request the show be taped off-the-air in case someone in the department wants to show the special at a later date?

A. As per the fair use guidelines, a teacher may request that a program broadcast for reception by the general public be taped off-the-air for use within the first 10 consecutive school days of the 45-day retention period. The history department chairperson may not request the taping "just in case" someone might want to show it.

Q. Tonight, the History Channel is airing a special about World War I. May a teacher request that the show be taped off-the-air for use in class later in the week?

A. No. The History Channel is a subscription-basis channel. It does not broadcast programs for reception by the general public.

Q. A teacher finds a chart in Newsweek that fits in nicely with a unit to be covered next semester. May the teacher make a class set of the chart?

A. No. This does not meet the "spontaneity" requirement of the fair use guidelines for multiple copies for classroom use. In this case, the teacher has enough time to contact Newsweek and request permission to use the chart.

Q. To avoid problems connecting to World Wide Web sites during actual class time, the school’s technology coordinator copies the contents of requested sites onto the school’s server. Is this practice permitted?

A. No.

Q. A teacher wants to enlarge a book cover illustration for a bulletin board decoration. May the teacher do so using an opaque projector?

A. No. The book cover illustration is copyrighted.

ATTACHMENT B

NOTICE

WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

ATTACHMENT C

SAMPLE FORM

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL

____________________________ SCHOOL

ORDER FOR PHOTOCOPY OR REPRODUCTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

Instructor: _______________________________________________

Department: ____________________ Room No. ____________

Date needed: ________________________ (one day lead time required)

Deliver to: _______________________________________________

TYPE OF COPY NO. OF ORIGINALS QUANTITY OF EACH

Photocopy

Videocassette

Slides

Overhead transparency

Audiocassette

Other

Specifications for materials: Collated _____ Folded _____ Stapled _____ Punched _____

Other specifications: ___________________________________________________________

Original material is copyrighted? Yes _____ No _____

Permission to copy is needed? Yes _____ No _____

The following notice warning of copyright restrictions is required on this form by Section 201.14 or Part 201 or 37 CFR Chapter II of the copyright law:

NOTICE

WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Instructor’s signature: _______________________________________

ATTACHMENT D

(SAMPLE FORM)

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL

____________________________ SCHOOL

RECORD OF OFF-AIR RECORDING

PROGRAM TITLE: _______________________________________________________

REQUESTED BY: ________________________________________________________

DATE: ________________________

TIME PROGRAM WILL AIR: _____________

CHANNEL: __________

Recording must be used within 10 school days as stated in Section VII of Bulletin No. M-43 (Rev.), Deputy Superintendent, Curriculum and Instruction, issued May 18, 1998. The usage dates for this video are between ___________________ (date) and _____________ (date), unless other arrangements have been made with the copyright holder.

Recorded by: ______________________________________

Erased by: ______________________________________

ATTACHMENT E

SAMPLE FORM (reduced}

(School or Office Letterhead)

Date

Permissions Department

Name

Address

Dear ________________________:

Permission is requested to copy the following copyrighted materials for use during the semester/track in my ____________________ class at ______________ School (or Office):

Title __________________________________________________________
Author(s) and/or editors ___________________________________________
Description of material to be copied__________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Number of copies to be made _______
Use of copies ___________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Distribution of copies _____________________________________________
Whether materials will be sold ______________________________________
Type of reproduction _________________________

Thank you for consideration of this request. For your convenience, enclosed is a copy of this request for your files and a stamped, self-addressed return envelope. Please notify me if there will be a charge for granting permission to duplicate the material.

Sincerely,

Name of faculty or staff member

________________________________________________________________________

PUBLISHER/PRODUCER REPLY

Title of material __________________________________________________

Permission granted _____ Permission denied _____

Conditions or details (if any) ____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Signature ______________________________________ Date __________________

TYPE OF COPY	NO. OF ORIGINALS	QUANTITY OF EACH
Photocopy
Videocassette
Slides
Overhead transparency
Audiocassette
Other