In the Classroom
Sharing Text-Based Course Materials
Instructors share course materials with students online, via Moodle or other password-protected course web sites, and by handing out materials in class. Most of the copyright issues involved are similar, whether you are working with online or physical copies of text-based materials.
The best option: don't make any copies!
Copyright issues with course materials usually arise because you're making copies. Make life easy on yourself and your students by not making copies.
How can you share course materials without making copies?
When the readings are publicly available online, linking to them is always ok.
When the readings are available online via a college subscription, link to them. Look for a "Permanent Link" or "Permanent URL" (or PURL) to add them to your course site, or contact your Academic Information Associate or Research & Instruction Librarian for help. You can also share citations for the readings with the students and collaborate with your Research & Instruction Librarians to teach students to use the citations to find the readings using campus resources.
It is sometimes possible for the library to purchase access to multi-user ebooks of items you wish to assign for your course. This is not usually available for straight-up textbooks, but can be an option for other books assigned as course readings. Check with your Research & Instruction Librarian to find out what options are available.
Have students access their own copies, or watch or listen to video or audio via personal accounts.
Put books or journal issues containing the readings on course reserve (physically) in the library.
Other Options
If you have to make copies to share course materials with your students, you will have to think about whether such copies are already permitted by law, or whether you will need permission from (and usually payment to) the copyright holder.
Fair Use
Fair use is a provision in the law (17 U.S.C. §107) that allows some copying without permission or payment. It is sometimes legal to make fair use copies of materials for students in a non-profit instructional environment; the text of the relevant statute mentions "multiple copies for classroom use." It is also true that not all non-profit instructional copying is a fair use.
At Macalester College, faculty and staff are trusted to make their own reasonable and informed choices about fair use which requires knowing something about how fair use works. Your Research & Instruction Librarians can help you sort through the various options for resource access, including fair use.
Permissions
Sometimes, there is no way to get students to a reading without making copies, and fair use doesn't seem to apply to the copying. Then, you may need permission to make the copies or you may choose to find alternative course materials.
Library staff can help you obtain permissions for course materials for Macalester courses. There may be fees involved, so please reach out early to think through the best options.
Sharing Student Works in the Classroom
Student works that are created as part of course assignments at Macalester College are, as a general matter of law, the intellectual property of the students who create them. As part of the educational mission of the college, student works may also sometimes be used for confidential assessment purposes outside of the classroom.
Faculty may ask students to share their works within the class in a variety of ways including bringing copies to class, using Moodle, or private websites as a condition of participating in a particular course. This is best done by making all expectations for sharing clear in the course syllabus. Bear in mind that using publicly available websites and tools such as Facebook Live, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, or Twitch may present data sharing or FERPA privacy concerns in addition to requiring content contributors to give certain copyrights to the platforms. A student who prefers not to share their work in that way should discuss alternate options with the instructor.
There can be some special circumstances that involve student work that might require additional agreements. Some examples include research or projects conducted over a series of course offerings such as some digital projects or ongoing research, or civic engagement projects where the intellectual property transfers to the partner organization. Contact your Research & Instruction Librarian or Academic Information Associate for help planning these kinds of projects and agreements.
Using Images in Teaching (online and otherwise)
Images can be powerful teaching tools, as illustrations to support in-class lectures, or for studying concepts outside of the classroom. Some best practices and resources are noted on the MacDigital web site in addition to the more detailed information here.
In-class display from physical copies is usually okay!
Most of the time, showing things to students in class is okay as the Classroom Use Exemption (17 U.S.C. § 110 (1)) is a specific provision in the law that allows teachers to display copyrightable materials for students, without limitation, in non-profit, face-to-face, classroom settings. It's not a flexible exception like fair use as it only applies to teachers, and only in specific situations. But it also is not uncertain; you don't have to guess at market harm issues, or how much is an appropriately small amount.
Examples:
Holding up illustrations from a book, or passing books, prints, maps, or other hard-copy images around a classroom
Using a traditional overhead projector, slide projector, or a document projector to display images
Note: online and distance classes are not covered by the Classroom Use Exemption - it only applies when students and teachers are physically present in the same space. You may well be able to display things for your students, but you'll have to think about it in terms of fair use. The TEACH Act (17 U.S.C. §110(2)) does create some rights for teaching uses of copyrightable works in the online environment, but it's more technical with more restrictions.
Copying or scanning images for instructional use
The Classroom Use Exemption, mentioned above, doesn't cover making copies at all; it says you can show a picture from a book, but it does not say that you can scan the picture out of the book in order to put it in a presentation file that you project from your computer. You may be able to copy the pictures from the book in order to use them in class, but if so, it will be because of fair use (17 U.S.C. §107)
Fair use almost certainly allows some copying of images for instruction, especially in the non-profit context. It's also likely that not all image copying, even in non-profit instructional contexts, falls under fair use. Courts haven't done much to interpret how fair use might apply to instructional use of images, but they have allowed fair use copying of images in other contexts, sometimes even commercial ones, especially when accompanied by criticism or commentary. If making the copies is a legitimate fair use, then subsequently showing them in class is probably permitted under the Classroom Use Exemption. However, the Classroom Use Exemption does not apply to copies that are not legitimately obtained.
Posting images online for student use
Sharing images online with students, whether embedded in a presentation file (if you distribute Powerpoint files, for example), or as stand-alone images in a learning management system such as Moodle or a password-protected course website, is also usually a question of fair use (17 U.S.C. §107). Consider if linking to a publicly available image or an image in a licensed online source is an option for your instructional needs.
Additional resources on academic image use
The Visual Resources Association has produced a very useful Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study. The statement articulates the organization's understanding of fair use principles, but it's not legal advice. It's worth the read for anyone whose teaching uses a lot of images. It is also of great value for anyone working with images as the subject of their research, or who wants to include images in published scholarly materials.
The College Art Association has drawn up a Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts. This has been welcomed by many in the visual arts teaching and research community. It articulates accepted community practices around writing and teaching about art, and goes beyond to fair use issues in making new art, and in archival and museum uses. In Minnesota, Springboard for the Arts helps artists connect with attorneys to obtain legal advice.
The Association of Art Museum Directors have Guidelines for the Use of Copyrighted Materials and Works of Art by Art Museums, which is a welcome document in succession to their groundbreaking earlier principled documentation of fair use issues in visual arts.
Using Video and Audio in Teaching (online and otherwise)
Video and audio are regularly used in our classrooms, and for out-of-class review, learning, and study materials. Some best practices and resources are noted on the MacDigital web site in addition to the more detailed information here.
In-class performances or display from physical media are usually okay!
Most of the time, showing things to students in class, or performing things with or for students in class at Macalester College is totally okay - the Classroom Use Exemption (17 U.S.C. § 110 (1)) allows teachers to perform or display things, without limitation, in non-profit, face-to-face, classroom settings. If not for this exception, showing a movie or playing musical recordings could be considered public performances or displays that might require payment and/or permission.
Examples:
Singing a song that all the students already know
Playing or singing from sheet music (legitimate copies, i.e., fair use/purchased/rented, only)
Watching a video (in whole or in part) from a DVD or VHS tape
Listening to music from a CD, tape, or record
The Classroom Use Exemption is not a flexible exception, like fair use. It only applies to teachers, and only in specific teaching situations, but it is also not at all uncertain - you don't have to make a judgement of market harm issues, or how much is an appropriately small amount.
Note: online classes are not covered by the Classroom Use Exemption - it only applies when students and teachers are physically present in the same space. The TEACH Act (17 U.S.C. §110(2)) does create some rights for teaching with copyrightable works in the online environment, but it's more technical with more restrictions.
What about streaming media?
Much of the media we use in real life today present some legal wrinkles that "old school" physical media don't.
Online media
Sites like YouTube and Vimeo have Terms of Service that say they are for personal use only. Some even specifically say they are for personal, non-commercial use. Subscription services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others also have Terms of Service, almost all of which also limit use to personal and/or non-commercial use. Some have even more specific limitations than that. It's unclear whether the terms of service on a free site, where you never clicked "I Agree", are legally enforceable, but with subscription services, you usually did actively agree to the terms of service at some point.
Is your teaching a personal use? No one really knows. Is your teaching non-commercial use? Also unclear. Most of the folks who run these services have not directly addressed such issues. Certainly it's common practice to play public online content, such as YouTube videos, in many different public settings, though not all such users may be aware that the terms of use present questions about such uses.
It's important to note that limitations that you agreed to in a service contract or at the time you purchased digital content are not copyright issues. They are contract issues, and so present risks related to your contractual relationship with the provider of the content, such as account termination.
Many faculty do play YouTube videos in class, or play music they downloaded from iTunes or stream from Spotify. They may or may not be aware of the contract law issues that those uses present.
Media files like MP3s or movie files
Purchased copies of media files often come with their own terms of use, which you usually agreed to at the time of purchase, and which also usually say the files are for personal and/or non-commercial use only. Again, whether instructional use is permitted under those terms is an issue of contract law more than copyright.
If the files were not purchased, you may not have to worry about contractual limitations on your use, but you do still have to grapple with the copyright-law question of whether playing questionably legitimate copies in class is fair use.
Note: ripping or otherwise digitizing audio or video from source media is quite likely fair use sometimes. But this proposition is contested by media companies, and some media like DVDs and Blu-Rays present additional legal issues related to "anticircumvention" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Instructional/educational display outside of the classroom
Outside of the classroom environment, neither the Classroom Use Exemption nor the Teach Act apply, so non-classroom use of audio and video such as in some online instruction, publicly available class projects, at conferences, in school meetings, etc., may be allowed, but you have to think about it through the lens of fair use (17 U.S.C. §107).
Digitizing video or audio for instructional use
The Classroom Use Exemption (17 U.S.C. § 110 (1)), and the TEACH Act (17 U.S.C. §110(2)) don’t cover making copies at all; they say you can show a movie in class or online under specific circumstances, but they do not say that you can digitize the movie so your students have access to it outside of the class session. You may be able to digitize portions of a film or song in order to use them in class, but if so, it will be because of fair use (17 U.S.C. §107).
Fair use almost certainly covers some copying of audio or video for instruction, especially in the non-profit context. It's also likely that not all audio and video copying, even in non-profit instructional contexts, falls under fair use. Courts haven't done much to interpret how fair use might apply to instructional use of media, but they have allowed fair use copying of images in other contexts, sometimes even commercial ones, especially when accompanied by criticism or commentary.
If making the copies is a legitimate fair use, then subsequently showing them in class is probably permitted where the Classroom Use Exemption applies, and may be fair use in other circumstances.
Posting media online for student use
Sharing media online with students, when you upload copies of the media yourself, is also usually a question of fair use. Linking to copies of media online is another option for sharing material with students, but it's always worth considering whether those copies are themselves legal copies.