Copyright Guidelines for Coursepacks
A coursepack, or course packet, is a
collection of readings photocopied and sold to students for assigned or
optional reading in a course. There is no such thing as "fair use"
for coursepacks. There is only "fair use" for separate items, such as
a book chapter, article, poem, illustration, picture, etc.
What you may use in a coursepack
without obtaining permission from the copyright owner:
- Works
not protected by copyright, such as facts, government documents, and works
in the public domain
- Works
that you own
- Works
for which you have a license that permits this use
Do not:
- Copy
to substitute for the purchase of an anthology, collective work, or work
intended to be "consumed" in the course of study or teaching
- Repeat
use of the same item from semester to semester
- Charge
students beyond the actual cost of the photocopying
The information available here will
help faculty and staff understand their rights and responsibilities related to
using print materials in coursepacks for non-profit educational use.
Rules
of Thumb
- Limit
what you photocopy to a single chapter from a book, or
- Limit
to a single article, essay, or story from a periodical issue or newspaper,
or
- Limit
to a single chart, graph, or illustration from a book, periodical issue,
or newspaper, or
- Limit
to other similary small parts of a work.
- Include
photocopies of no more than nine copyrighted works in a coursepack.
- Include
a bibliography in the coursepack with appropriate citation to the original
source of each item in the packet.
- Include
a copyright notice and appropriate citation on each photocopy.
- If
your use is outside the scope of "fair use," obtain permission
from the copyright owner for each item included in the coursepack. Save
requests and responses in your personal files.
Washburn
University Resources
Citing Sources
Additional
Resources
Copyright Clearance Center
Stanford University Copyright and Fair
Use Guidelines - Academic Coursepacks
