USP Copyright Policy
The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia expects that all
the members of its community will adhere to the United States Copyright
Act (Title 17 United
States Code) and the related acts which further define the proper
use of copyrighted materials.
All members of the University should familiarize themselves with
the copyright law and its fair use provisions. Faculty, staff, or
students who face litigation over copyright infringement should
not assume that the University will defend them or be responsible
for judgements. Excellent online materials are available to learn
about copyright:
In some circumstances, it is allowable for educators to reproduce
copyrighted materials without permission:
- if the material is licensed, as are
most electronic materials, and the license allows for it
- if the material is used in online education, such as an online
course, and the provisions of the TEACH Act
are followed
- if the materials fall under the fair use
limitations on owners' exclusive rights as contained in the U.S.
Copyright Act
- if the materials fall under certain other
limitations on owners' exclusive rights as contained in the
U.S. Copyright Act
- if the materials are a work of the U.S.
government
- if the materials are otherwise in the public
domain
Scope of Copyright Protection
The Copyright Act gives the copyright owner the exclusive right to
distribute, alter, perform, or display the work. Copyright protects
the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Similarly, facts
do not receive copyright protection, although the selection and arrangement
of facts are copyrightable. Thus, a student does not infringe copyright
when he or she copies facts or ideas from a published source, so long
as he or she doesn’t copy that source’s expression. However,
failing to attribute the source of these facts or ideas may be plagiarism,
and may violate the University’s code of conduct.
Licensing
Electronic materials, such as software or access to subscription
products online, are often governed by a license. The license may
be more or less restrictive than the fair use provisions of the
copyright law. For example, the USP Library has negotiated license
agreements with the vendors of the electronic journals it subscribes
to that allow the posting of their articles behind a password as
both Blackboard and ERes provide.Similarly, videocassettes and DVD's
may be purchased (as USP's Learning Resource Center does) with "public
performance rights" that allow for showing the works outside
the classroom or to other than enrolled students.
TEACH Act
The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH
Act) creates a framework for the use of copyrighted works in online
education.USP policy is to follow the TEACH Act for online courses.
A checklist
developed by North Carolina State University to follow the TEACH
Act's provisions should be followed when posting copyrighted materials
for an online course.
For more about the TEACH Act, see these discussions from the University
of Texas and the North
Carolina State University.
Fair Use
The United States Copyright Act gives the owners of a copyright
the exclusive right to reproduce copies of the work, in addition
to other rights. However, in some circumstances, this exclusive
right is limited. According to the U.S.
Copyright Office,
Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which
the reproduction of a particular work may be considered “fair,”
such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,
and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered
in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such
use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation
to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value
of the copyrighted work.
These four factors are not clear-cut, and there are conflicting
court decisions on their specific application. For further discussion
on the concept of "fair use," see the U.S. Copyright Office
flier on fair
use, the University of Texas' discussion,
or the examples from the Georgia
University System.
Fair Use Guidelines
Various groups have compiled guidelines based on numerical limits.
None of these guidelines are legally binding, and many copyright
scholars feel that they are too restrictive. However, use of copyrighted
materials within these set guidelines may be thought of as a "safe
harbor": the guidelines have been agreed upon by various interest
groups, including publishers, as non-infringing.
Multiple
Copies of Printed Materials for Classroom Use
Guidelines
for Educational Use of Music
Fair
Use Guidelines for Educational Media
Guidelines
for Off-Air Recording of Broadcasts
Other Limitations on Owners' Exclusive Rights
The Copyright Act places several other limitations (See 17
U.S.C. §§108-122) on the exclusive rights of owners.Of
particular interest in higher education are these:
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Software Policy Statement (Employee Handbook, II.10.7)
Computer programs are protected by copyright law—Section
117 of the 1976 Copyright Act, as amended in 1980, governing
the use of software. It is the intent of the Philadelphia University
of Pharmacy and Science [sic] to adhere to the provisions of copyright
laws in the area of computer software. It is also the intent of
the University to comply with the license agreements and/or policy
statements contained in software packages used in the University.
In circumstances where interpretation of the copyright law is
ambiguous, the University shall look to the applicable license
agreement to determine appropriate use of the software.
Any use or reproduction of copyrighted materials will be
done with the written permission of the copyright holder; otherwise,
the individual responsible for use or reproduction may be liable
for infringing the copyright under existing laws. In the case
of a court action for damages for a finding of willful infringement,
the University will not pay any judgment rendered against a faculty
member, staff member, or student or pay any attorney's fees or
costs which the said individual incurs in conjunction with a lawsuit,
and may render the said individual liable to the University for
any damages which the University is liable to pay.
Appendix 2: USP Library Reserves
Original items. Printed, video, and audio materials
legally obtained by the University or by the requesting individual
may be placed on reserve. Exceptions to these include workbooks
and other items intended to be consumable.
Copies. Following the principles of fair use,
photocopies of single articles or single chapters made from copyrighted
journals or books owned by the University or by the requesting individual
may be placed on reserve. All photocopies must have a statement
of copyright. Larger selections from the works, or from materials
not owned by the University or the requesting individual, may be
placed on reserve only if the copyright holder grants permission.
Copies of audio or video materials may not be placed on reserve
without the permission of the copyright holder.
Electronic reserve. Digitized materials may be
placed on electronic reserve following the TEACH
Act guidelines. Licensed electronic materials may be placed
on electronic reserve if their licensing allows (electronic journals
subscribed to by the Library allow electronic reserve).
Appendix 3: USP Learning Resources Center
The Learning Resource Center abides by the Fair
Use Guidelines for Educational Media, as endorsed by the Consortium
of College and University Media Centers, except as the guidelines
for online education have been superseded by the TEACH
Act
The Fair
Use Guidelines for Educational Media place limitations of the
total amount of content that may be copied and how long the content
may be used. However, by following the guidelines, the LRC is unlikely
to face copyright infringement liability.
Examples of limitations:
- text materials: 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less
- motion media: up to 10%, or 3 minutes, whichever is less
- music: up to 10% or 30 seconds, whichever is less
- time limitations: for faculty, 2 years after first instructional
use
Under the TEACH
Act, materials may be digitized if they cannot be purchased in
digital format, but there are stricter limitations on time.
Appendix 4: USP Web Site
The USP Policies
and Standards for Creating Web Pages states:
Material that is illegal or used in violation of copyright
laws is prohibited on the University website.
Questions regarding the interpretation, implementation and enforcement
of the Policies and Standards for Creating Web Pages should be directed
to the University Web Manager. She will inform the maintainer of
a page of the problem in question. If a resolution can not be made,
according to the USP Policies and Standards for Creating Web Pages:
A committee of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice
President for Executive Affairs, Associate Vice President for
Information Technology, Vice President for Finance and Administration,
and Director of Library and Information Services will make final
policy interpretations.
Guidance concerning copyrighted images on the USP web site:
USP Images:
The University Relations Department at USP maintains a gallery
of approved photographs that may be used on the USP web site. These
photographs are the property of USP, who owns the copyright to them.
These photographs may be used only on official USP web pages or
with the permission of University Relations. They may not be modified,
re-sized, cropped or otherwise changed without the permission of
University Relations and the assistance of the USP Web Manager or
Photographer. Note: these photographs have been optimized for viewing
on the Web ONLY. They are NOT appropriate for use in printed publications.
Non-USP Images:
Licensed Images:
USP owns licenses for Microsoft Office software installed on University
owned computers. As a licensee of Microsoft Office, users may use
Microsoft Clip Art
and Media which is a collection of clip art and other images
such as line drawings, photographs, background images, buttons,
and ruled lines that may be used in print or on the web by USP faculty,
students, and staff.
There are many image galleries available on the World Wide Web.
Some of these galleries maintain the copyright of their images,
but allow users to use their images under a license agreement. Example:
Original Free Clipart
and their license.
In most instances, there is no fee to use images under this license.
Users must abide by the requirements of the license, though.
Non-licensed images in the Public Domain:
There are many web sites with galleries and libraries of
"free" images available for the taking. These sites claim
that the images are free of copyright restrictions and may be used.
It is difficult, though, to determine if these graphics are truly
in the public domain, and free of copyright restrictions, or if
they are copyrighted by another entity.
The best way to find graphics that are truly in the public domain
is to:
- Look for sites where the graphics are "original".
This means that the author(s) of the site created the graphics.
- Avoid large secondary sources such as "clip art galleries"
where the images have been collected from many other sources.
As a general rule, the farther away you are from the creator,
the more risk you run that a graphic labeled "copyright free"
may not be.
- Download files from sites that have a clear "conditions
of use" statement. Look to see if the page owner requires
that an image be only used for non-commercial purposes, or if
they require a link back to his page for using the graphics. Abide
by all requirements.
Images that are ‘Red Flags’ and usually have copyright
restrictions
- Company logos
- Cartoon characters
- Photographs from news sources
- Images that have a copyright sign © embedded on them or
a copyright watermark
Guidance Concerning Copyrighted Written Content:
USP Written Content
All written content on official USP web pages is copyrighted by
the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and may not be used
without permission. Note: on personal faculty pages or course web
pages, the copyright holder may be the individual.
Some written content has been created for USP by outside consultants.
The copyright of this content remains with USP unless other arrangements
have been made with the vendor.
Non-USP Written Content
Users must be careful when using written content from other sources.
At a minimum, proper attribution must be made when quoting other
sources or using their ideas. You should make proper attribution,
and if available, provide a hyperlink to the source.
When using significant portions of written content from an outside
source, copyright restrictions may apply. In these cases, you must
obtain written permission from the author before placing the content
on the USP site.
Content that is a ‘Red Flag’ and usually has
copyright restrictions:
- Newspaper and Magazine articles
- Journal articles (Note: the electronic journals subscribed
to by the USP Library are restricted to the use of USP students,
faculty, and staff and can be placed on the public web only behind
a password)
If Copyrighted Materials Are Found on the USP Website
USP's Agent for Notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual
property infringement can be reached as follows:
By mail: Amy Christopher, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia,
600 S. 43rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
By phone: 215-596-8730
By fax: 215-596-8760
By e-mail: webmaster@usip.edu
Appendix 5: USP Publications: in progress
Appendix 6: Permissions Purchased by USP
Music
Members of the USP community may perform music copyrighted by the
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and
the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). These rights are purchased annually
by the Student Affairs Office. In addition, ASCAP permission extends
to the performance of music on the University's website (see the
ASCAP Database of Musical Titles
). Note that these rights pertain only to the live or recorded performances
of USP musicians.
July 12, 2004
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