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Copyright Information

Copyright is a very important issue. This page is designed to keep the JSCC faculty, students and staff aware of copyright and its effect on Jackson State Community College.

There are penalties for infringement of copyright. It is important that all JSCC students, faculty and staff understand the basics of copyright.

The US Copyright Office on Copyright

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

From: U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 1 "Copyright Basics" September, 2000. 20 July, 2004 (http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html) 20 July, 2004.

Fair Use

Though materials are copyrighted, there are instances when these materials can be used without getting permission from the copyright holder. This is known as the doctrine of "fair use"

Here are some very useful links to information about fair use in the classroom and for online courses.

A. Copyright in the Face-to Face Classroom

B. Copyright in Online Courses

"A Teacher's Guide to Fair Use and Copyright." states:

"Fair use explicitly allows use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Rather than listing exact limits of fair use, copyright law provides four standards for determination of the fair use exemption:

Purpose of use: Copying and using selected parts of copyrighted works for specific educational purposes qualifies as fair use, especially if the copies are made spontaneously, and are used temporarily…
Nature of the work
Proportion/extent of the material used
The effect on marketability

None of these factors alone constitutes fair use. Even though materials may be copied for educational purposes, the other standards must be met."

From: Cathy Newsome. "A Teacher's Guide to Fair Use and Copyright." 1997. (http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm) 29 August, 2004.

There have been several copyright acts that relate to faculty and students since 1976. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 has a lot to say about violation of copyright.

The Act prohibits circumvention of any technology used by a copyright owner to limit access to a copyrighted work.

The TEACH Act ("Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act) has recently given more leeway for faculty to use copyrighted material in their online courses. Enacted in 2002, the law allows virtual use of the same materials that are allowed in physical classrooms.

JSCC and Copyright

Jackson State Community College Policy on Patents and Copyrights Preamble

JSCC, in an effort to remain consistent with the policies established by the Tennessee Board of Regents regarding copyright and patents and intellectual property, and in accordance with all Federal laws, has a committee to adjudicate and recommend ownership of employee creations

A standing committee, The Advisory Committee on Patents and Copyrights at JSCC, serves to provide the Vice-President of Academic Affairs with suggestions concerning the establishment of ownership for intellectual property created by employees.

Furthermore, employees of JSCC who willfully disregard intellectual property rights and responsibilities as outlined in the various employee handbooks, do so at their own risk and assume all liability.

All employee patents and copyrights should be disclosed to JSCC for the purpose of establishing ownership. The Advisory Committee will recommend partial, full institutional or full individual ownership.

Employee creations that are disclosed in a timely manner will go to the Advisory Committee on Patents and Copyrights for recommendations. These employee creations that are discovered by JSCC and have not been disclosed will go to the JSCC Disclosure Committee for a decision/recommendation.

Copyright Links

TBR Intellectual Property Policy: http://www.tbr.state.tn.us/general_counsel/ip/IP_Policy.htm
Policy on Patents and Copyrights (Appendix G of the Faculty Handbook): (Includes information on the Advisory Committee on Patents and Copyrights): http://www.jscc.edu/academics/facultyhandbook/appendix_g.htm
(brief mention of copyright in faculty handbook): http://www.jscc.edu/academics/facultyhandbook/division-college.htm
Copyright notice on JSCC web page: http://www.jscc.edu/copyright.htm
US Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/
Copyright Clearance Center: http://www.copyright.com/
Digital Millennium Copyright Act: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm
Info from FSU about the Teach Act: http://online.fsu.edu/onlinesupport/instructor/teachact.html
Checklist for compliance with Teach Act: http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/teachlist.htm