Copyright and Fair Use for Faculty: Home

The purpose of this guide is to provide faculty at Adelphi University with an introduction to those aspects of U.S. copyright law relevant to their work as scholars and educators. It focuses on the fair use exemption to copyright law, which allows for the legal use of copyrighted material within educational contexts if certain conditions are met. 

This guide is a supplement to Adelphi University's official policies on copyright and fair use. Faculty need to understand the basics of copyright law and act in good faith since failure to comply can lead to substantial legal penalties for both the faculty member and the university.

Contracts and licenses with library resource vendors usually place some limitations on their use. Electronic resources (ejournals, ebooks, databases) accessed through the Library's website come with licenses that are negotiated to get the rights that are needed for faculty to use the materials for their courses. However, if you have a specific concern, contact your Library liaison for clarification.

The Adelphi University Copyright Policy is intended to assist members of the Adelphi community understand their rights and act in compliance with U.S. law and university policy regarding copyrighted works used for teaching and research. Key aspects of the policy are as follows:

• Faculty, teaching assistants, and graduate assistants are free to publish scholarly and artistic works...they have created, such as books, monographs, journal articles, musical compositions, and artwork in pursuit of their scholarly and research activities.
   
• Faculty, teaching assistants and graduate assistants also own copyright in pedagogical materials developed in the regular course of teaching, using resources ordinarily available to all or most faculty members and as defined below in the section on Use of Substantial University Resources. However, when such materials are created at the direction of the University, they will be owned by the University.
   
• Students will own the copyright to works created as a requirement of their coursework, degree, or certificate program. However, the University will nevertheless retain the right to use student works internally for pedagogical, scholarly, and administrative purposes.

See the full text of the policy for more detailed information regarding when the university retains copyright in a work, the handling of royalties, and the resolution of disputes.

Adelphi's Copyright Policy also contains guidance on interpreting the fair use exemption of U.S. copyright law, which allows for the legal use of copyrighted materials in certain contexts, including education, if certain conditions are met:

The fair use provision of the copyright law (section 107) is an important exception to the exclusive rights of copyright owners. Fair use must be determined on a case by case basis by applying guidelines under the following criteria: 1) The character of the use including whether it is for commercial or not-for-profit educational purposes, 2) The nature of the copyrighted work to be used, 3) The amount of the copyrighted work used in proportion to the whole, 4) The effect on the potential commercial market. In addition, the TEACH Act (Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act) of 2002 applies copyright law to digital resources used in distance education as per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hereinafter referred to as (DMCA) of 1998 applies to access to and copying of digital materials.

Members of the university community must exercise fair use rights appropriately in teaching, research and service activities. Since defining fair use must be determined on a case-by-case basis, such members of the university community should consult available guidelines before using copyrighted works. Permission should be sought from the authorized copyright owner prior to each use of a copyrighted work by such member of the university community that does not fall clearly within the fair use guidelines.

For more information and resources related to the fair use exemption, see the Fair Use page of this guide. Visit the TEACH Act page to read more about rules specifically relating to the use of digital content in the context of online instruction.