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University of Missouri-Columbia University of Missouri  

Educational Technologies at Missouri
A division of the Office of the Provost

Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights

Overview Any person who creates original work in any form holds the copyright to their work – unless that work is done “for hire” or unless they give/sell the copyright to another person or business. This also includes students who own the expression of their thoughts, ideas, papers, etc. The creator of the work does not have to register it in order to hold the copyright. The person holding the copyright has specific rights under law to duplicate and distribute their work. In order to copy or distribute another’s work, you must obtain copyright permission. However, the law also grants limited use of copyrighted works by libraries and by public educational institutions for educational purposes. In November 2002 the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was broadened by the TEACH Act to include similar limited uses for Web-based courses.

What Educators Should Know about the Technology, Education & Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act

Current copyright law gives educators the ability to use certain copyrighted works for educational purposes without securing permission or license. Congress' new "TEACH" Act is intended to carry the spirit of these exemptions into the digital age, making it possible for an instructor to provide any content online that would otherwise be provided in a classroom. Specifically main points of the act include:

  • Both digital and analog transmission of a work will be covered by the educational exemption from copyright law. The TEACH Act exempts the production of transient copies of copyrighted works created automatically as a function of the process of digital transmission.
  • Current law requires transmission of a work to be sent to a classroom or other place normally used for instruction. The TEACH Act will simply require that the transmission be made by or at the direction of an instructor as part of a class.
  • Safeguards must be incorporated into the transmission of digital works to minimize the risk of copyright infringement through unauthorized 'downstream distribution'. The TEACH Act will require that, to the extent technologically feasible, transmissions of copyrighted works be limited to official course enrollees.
  • An educational institution must have non-profit status in order to take advantage of the exemptions.

    Adapted and printed with permission from October 2002 E-News, University Continuing Education Association (UCEA)

While the TEACH Act provides greater latitude for instructors in using materials on the Web, there may be times when you wish to obtain specific permission to use copyrighted materials outside the course and/or keep them on a university server. ET@MO provides the following to help with broader use of others’ materials:

University of Missouri Resources

  • Business Management, Chapter 100: Patent and Copyright Law, Use of Copyrighted Materials in Teaching and Research - http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/departments/gc/rules/business/100/010.shtml
  • Business Management, Chapter 100: Patent and Copyright Law, Copyright Regulations – http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/departments/gc/rules/business/100/030.shtml
  • Information Technology, Rules and Resources for Online Intellectual Property, Copyright Essentials –http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/departments/is/ip/rules.shtml
  • University of Missouri Security Awareness: The Copyright Quiz - http://mizzouit.missouri.edu/security/dmca-quiz.html
  • MU Libraries’ Electronic Reserves - http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/AccessServices/ERes-guidelines.htm (see the link to MU Libraries Copyright Policy)

Recommended Resources for More Information

Common-Sense Considerations and Tips from Lessons Learned

Know your MU resources and be willing to ask for help.

  • Be conservative: if you feel you are pushing the limits of copyright or privacy, back up a little and ask questions. If in doubt, consult the experts on campus. You do not have to deal with these issues alone.
  • ET@MO is here to give you technical support in dealing with these issues. We can also get you to the right person to answer the question on copyright, intellectual property, privacy, and security issues.
  • The MU Libraries provide support for copyright clearances and advice. Mizzou Media with the MU Bookstore provides support for printed materials and CD duplication.
  • Divison of IT Security is there to assist with security and for investigating possible abuse of MU computing facilities or violations of the law that involves MU computing resources. They are also the authority when it comes to the MU Acceptable Use Policy for computing.

When utilizing copyrighted materials, take advantage of available options.

  • Do the Libraries already own or license the material?
  • Could this be handled through ERes?
  • Is this a situation with which the Libraries' Copyright Clearance Center could assist?
  • Does your textbook publishers provide the material you need in an electronic format already, or would they allow you to scan the material for use in an access-controlled environment online. (Contact your publisher's representative. The Learning Technology Team provides assistance in conversions and adapting existing course materials to work with publisher-provided materials.)
  • Is online distribution the best means of getting this material to your students?
  • If you are using student-developed materials, do you have a release form from them to re-use their work?

Prepare adequate precautions to safeguard the materials for which you have permission or for which you are claiming fair use.

  • Is all of the material on a password-protected site?
  • Are you using conditional release features in the software to prevent guest access or access by former students?
  • Are you posting the requisite copyright notice? In addition to such notices as the owner of the copyright might require, recent changes in the law require a notice be posted on the course site and placed in distributed materials. We recommend that the following notice appear in any course using copyrighted materials: "Materials used in connection with the course may be subject to copyright protection."

    It would be appropriate to place this statement in the syllabus, and also in the Announcements section of a Blackboard course. You will notice that on the initial pages for accessing Blackboard, the following statement occurs:

    Some MU online courses may utilize copyrighted material that may not be duplicated or distributed without permission or legal authority.

    Information in Blackboard is subject to the provisions of FERPA. Educational Technologies at Missouri retains data in accordance with MU's guidelines relating to FERPA. Chats in courses and organizations may be logged and retained at the discretion of the instructor without notice to students.

    Users are responsible for maintaining virus protection on their own machines.

    Copyright — Curators of the University of Missouri. All rights reserved. DMCA and other copyright information. An equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.

When using colleagues’ work, keep good working relationships by communicating clearly.

  • When considering intellectual property issues that are more concerned with ethics than law, try reversing the positions and see how you would feel if you were in the shoes of the other party.
  • Although the Board of Curators co-owns most course materials developed throughout the University of Missouri System, remember that almost all materials are co-owned by their creator. Asking the creator of the materials for permission to copy or modify them can save a lot of upset feelings between individuals, departments, and even campuses.

Communicate in advance with your department regarding the use of your course.

  • Come to an agreement in advance regarding who owns the intellectual property rights for the course materials you develop as an MU instructor.
  • Come to an agreement regarding how the department may use the course after you are no longer the instructor.

To increase your chances for a favorable response to your copyright request, include specific details.

  • When requesting copyright permission, be sure to provide the exact information on what you want to use, when, where, and how.
  • When asking others for use of their intellectual property in Blackboard, or other systems such as ERes, stress that you will credit them in a copyright notice.
  • Make it clear that you will display their property in a password-protected environment. This can sometimes tip the scales in your favor - particularly with publishers.

What are licenses and how do they relate to copyright?

In the past few years, a number of copyright licenses have been created for content that allow content creators and publishers to modify the terms of copyright for their works. For the most part, these licenses open the work up to a wider variety of uses; however, there are licenses, which may include DRM's for audio and video that are more restrictive. It is important to understand the licenses of works. For a fuller discussion see: http://etatmo.missouri.edu/toolbox/doconline/opencontent.php#Licenses