I. What copyright rights and responsibilities do university faculty members have?
Teaching faculty often use materials published by others, either during class or as assigned readings. A
common belief is that so long as it's an educational use, any use is permitted. While there is a generous
allowance for face-to-face teaching in 110, (see Chapter 4) some uses do require permission from the copyright
owner. In a setting where repeated, systematic copying of the same item occurs, it is a time to consider
paying for copyright clearance. If an article is made available in the course management system (such as
Blackboard) over multiple semesters, it is also a time to consider paying for copyright clearance. Although
the Blackboard page is password-protected and not available to the public, if an article is made available to
students semester after semester, the volume of lost copies (to the publisher) can be enough to aect the
amount of the work used category in the Fair Use factors. If the article is available in a database licensed
by the university, a link directly to it can be placed in a Blackboard page. If this is done, the student will
be reading, or printing, directly from the licensed copy and not from a copy created and distributed by the
instructor in the Blackboard environment.