The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Read the complete Copyright Law of the United States and all its amendments and related laws (Title 17, United States Code).
Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
Cazenovia College's Witherill Library reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.
Copyright is a federal law that grants (for a limited time) exclusive rights to authors of original, creative works fixed in a tangible medium of expression. It is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) to creators over their intellectual property, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. It also provides exceptions to those exclusive rights under certain circumstances.
Examples of copyrightable works include:
Copyright does not protect:
Attribution: the action of ascribing a work or remark to a particular author, artist, or person. For example: in-text citations and the reference list/bibliography of a research paper.
Copyright Infringement: as a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.
Derivative Work: a work based upon one or more preexisting works. For example: a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications, which, as a whole represent an original work of authorship, is a "derivative work".
Intellectual Property: a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc.
License: a right that gives a person or entity permission to do something that would be illegal if the person or entity did not have such permission. Usually the scope of the permission excludes ownership rights or privileges.
In December of 2020, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act was passed into law. This new chapter (Chapter 15) of the U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code) created the Copyright Claims Board (CCB). The CCB is a three-member tribunal within the Copyright Office that "will provide an efficient and user-friendly option to resolve certain copyright disputes" (U.S. Copyright Office, n.d., para. 1). Please note that participation in CCB proceedings is voluntary: if a claim is made against you, you have 60 days to opt-out. If you opt-out, the person making a claim against you may then choose to file a copyright lawsuit against you in federal court instead. If you do not opt-out before the deadline, you lose your opportunity to have the dispute decided by a court (Benson & Myers, 2022).
References
Benson, S., Myers, C., & Vollmer, T. (2022). CASE Act: Implications for college and research libraries. College & Research Libraries News, 83(5), 214. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.83.5.214
U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). Copyright Small Claims and the Copyright Claims Board. Copyright.gov. https://www.copyright.gov/about/small-claims/
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that provides free copyright licenses. Creators can choose and apply the licenses to their works to give the public permission to share and use the work following the conditions specified
Fair use is a defense to copyright infringement that allows certain persons or entities to use, access, copy, distribute, remix, publicly perform, or publicly display limited portions of protected material for certain purposes. Under the fair use doctrine, you may be able to use copyright protected work without having to receive the copyright owner's permission or pay them. Clear rules do not exist for interpreting what exact uses constitute fair use, thus it is a judgment call and ultimately it would be up to a court of law to determine whether a use is considered fair or not.
Per Section 107 of U.S. copyright law (Title 17), "Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors".
Open Scholarship means sharing research and knowledge. Open access (copyrighted items made available at no charge by the publisher), open data, open educational resources (copyrighted instructional items you are given permission to use by the creator), and open source software share this common principle.
Items not protected by copyright law due to ineligibility, author intent, or status. A work of authorship is in the “public domain” if it is no longer under copyright protection or if it failed to meet the requirements for copyright protection. Works in the public domain may be used freely without the permission of the former copyright owner.
On November 2nd, 2002, the "Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act" (the TEACH Act), part of the larger Justice Reauthorization legislation (H.R. 2215), was signed into law by President Bush.
The TEACH Act redefines the terms and conditions on which accredited, nonprofit educational institutions throughout the U.S. may use copyright protected materials in distance education (including on websites and by other digital means) without permission from the copyright owner and without payment of royalties.
Contact the Circulation Desk when the library is open for general questions about hours, renewals, etc.
Phone: 315-655-7240
Or, email us anytime at asklib@cazenovia.libanswers.com
Monday - Thursday: 7:45 a.m. - midnight
Friday: 7:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 2:00 p.m. - midnight
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Friday: 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Sunday: 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
When chat is offline, you can get help by searching our Library FAQ knowledge base or submitting your question to asklib@cazenovia.libanswers.com