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Guidelines for Online Use of Course Materials

Introduction

This document is intended to give guidance to instructors, librarians, and support staff concerning the circumstances under which they may, consistent with the Copyright Law, place course materials on electronic reserves or on course web sites.

1. Instructor-Authored Materials

Instructors may post their own authored materials, such as lecture notes, tests, exercises, problem sets, and PowerPoint presentations. (Instructors should bear in mind that if material they authored has been published (e.g., in a journal), they may have transferred the copyright to the publisher. In that case, it will be necessary to either (a) obtain permission from the publisher to post the material; or (b) follow the Online Guidelines in Section 4, below.)

2. Materials for Which Dartmouth College Already Holds Permission

Materials drawn from Dartmouth-licensed collections may be included in electronic reserves and course web sites without any further permission by linking to a persistent URL. Downloading and posting materials in electronic reserves and course web sites must adhere to some specific conditions. Contact Jennifer Taxman for additional information.

3. Material Unprotected by the Copyright Act

The following categories of material are not protected by the Copyright Act and may therefore be made available on electronic reserves or on course web sites without the permission of the copyright owner:

Material that has entered the public domain because the copyright has expired. The rules for determining whether a work has entered the public domain are complicated, but are set out in chart form as prepared by Lolly Gassaway of the University of North Carolina.
Works of the United States Government. By statute, U.S. Government works are not protected by copyright.
Links to web sites. Anyone may freely reproduce the address of a web site, to which readers may "hyperlink." Best practices suggest proper citation and notifying the web page provider.

4. Material Made Available Under the Online Guidelines

Material that does not fall within either of the categories described above may still be used in electronic reserves or course web sites under the following conditions:

A. Written Works

Meeting the following guidelines, written works (such as text works and musical scores) may be placed on electronic reserves or on course web sites for use in connection with course instruction:

1. The instructor is placing the work on electronic reserves or on a course web site for the first time. (If this is the second or subsequent term that the instructor seeks to place the work online, permission must be secured from the copyright holder.)

2. The work does not exceed the following quantity limitations:

One chapter of a book.
One article from a periodical or newspaper.
One short story, short essay, or short poem.
One chart, graph, diagram, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.
Up to 10% of a musical score.

3. A commercially available copy of the written work is owned by or licensed to Dartmouth College; OR Dartmouth has ordered a commercially available copy of the written work; OR the written work is owned by the course instructor and Dartmouth has made a good faith effort to purchase a commercially available copy.

4. The materials are required readings for the course.

5. Online access to course materials shall be limited through authentication to class participants.

6. Access to the files shall be disabled at the completion of the course.

7. Course files may be stored for future re-use as long as the conditions in Paragraph 1 are met (i.e., permission is obtained from the copyright holder to post the material in second or subsequent terms).

B. Audio Recordings

Meeting the following guidelines, audio recordings of musical works may be placed on electronic reserves or on course web sites for use in connection with course instruction:

1. A commercially available copy of the audio recording is owned by or licensed to Dartmouth College; OR Dartmouth has ordered a commercially available copy of the audio recording; OR a lawfully obtained copy of the audio recording is owned by the course instructor and Dartmouth has made a good faith effort to purchase a commercially available copy.

2. Entire works shall be made available only of works that are being taught in the course and that are assigned to students for a specific class meeting. The number of entire works that may be digitized during an academic term shall not exceed the maximum number of works typically required for the course: approximately 30 hours. Excerpts, not entire copies, should be used when possible.

3. Online access to course materials shall be limited through authentication to class participants. Audio must be delivered in streaming format.

4. Access to the files shall be disabled at the completion of the course, but the files may be stored for future re-use in accordance with these guidelines.

C. Video/DVD Recordings

Meeting the following guidelines, video/DVD recordings may be placed on electronic reserves or on course web sites for use in connection with course instruction:

1. A commercially available copy of the video/DVD is owned by or licensed to Dartmouth College; OR Dartmouth has ordered a commercially available copy of the video/DVD; OR a lawfully obtained copy of the video/DVD recording is owned by the course instructor and Dartmouth has made a good faith effort to purchase a commercially available copy.

2. Entire works shall be made available only of works that are being taught in the course and that are assigned to students for a specific class meeting. The number of entire works that may be digitized during an academic term shall not exceed the maximum number of works typically required for the course: approximately 10 items or 20 hours. Excerpts, not entire copies, should be used when possible.

3. Online access to course materials shall be limited through authentication to class participants. Video must be delivered in streaming format.

4. Access to the files shall be disabled at the completion of the course but course files may be stored for future re-use in accordance with these guidelines.

Seeking Copyright Permission for Online Use of Course Materials

To provide online access to works not listed above, copyright permission must be obtained.

Records of all requests sent must be kept for three years.
If the copyright owner (or agent) denies permission, or conditions permission on unacceptable royalty rates, the material cannot be placed online for course reserves or in a course web site; if the material has already been placed online, it shall be removed immediately. Print copies, for items that have been removed, may be made available at the reserve desk depending on permission and royalty rates.
If the copyright owner (or agent) does not reply to the request within a reasonable time, a follow-up request shall be made, if time allows. If time does not allow, or if there is no reply to the follow-up, the materials may be made available online provided that each item is accompanied by a notice stating that the material may be protected by copyright and shall not be further reproduced without checking its copyright status. The following text may be used: "This material is for private study, scholarship, and research and any further distribution may violate the copyright laws."
The foregoing procedure may be used in successive years, provided that a new request for permission is made in each successive year.

November 14, 2003

Jennifer Taxman, Library
Michael Beahan, Library
Jeffrey Bohrer, Computing
Patricia Fisken, Library
Sarah Horton, Computing
Ann McHugo, Library
Cyndy Pawlek, Library