Does anyone know if it is a violation of academic integrity for teachers to use labs, notes and homework questions of other teachers at other universities as their own without citation?

I know they have the right to reproduce for educational purposes only.

according to the Fair Use policy of the Copyright Act

Anonymous (in post 13187):

I know they have the right to reproduce for educational purposes only.

It is not quite that simple. If they are distributing the materials for every class they teach for every semester, it starts to go outside the "educational purpose" of the copyright.

Brian Gray:

Anonymous (in post 13187):

I know they have the right to reproduce for educational purposes only.

It is not quite that simple. If they are distributing the materials for every class they teach for every semester, it starts to go outside the "educational purpose" of the copyright.

Says who? At what point is it not fair use any more? I'd be interested in any documentation you have to back up that statement.

Alexander Hutnik:

Brian Gray:

Anonymous (in post 13187):

I know they have the right to reproduce for educational purposes only.

It is not quite that simple. If they are distributing the materials for every class they teach for every semester, it starts to go outside the "educational purpose" of the copyright.

Says who? At what point is it not fair use any more? I'd be interested in any documentation you have to back up that statement.

I think Brian Gray knows what he is talking about



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit was 2006:12:05:15:54:06 by Gregory Szorc.

Alexander Hutnik:

Brian Gray:

It is not quite that simple. If they are distributing the materials for every class they teach for every semester, it starts to go outside the "educational purpose" of the copyright.

Says who? At what point is it not fair use any more? I'd be interested in any documentation you have to back up that statement.

Here is the Kelvin Smith Library pages that reference various copyright resources and the University's Compliance Policy.

Specifically look at the Fair Use checklist in the compliance document. They are 4 criteria that must be determined (or justified if taken to court) when it comes to copyright fair use: purpose, nature, amount, and effect. Copyright is written with flexibility in mind and so the 4 criteria are weighed for each situation. A court decides which ways the scale tips if someone decides to defend their copyright protection granted to them as an author.

Purpose:
Education leans towards Fair Use

Nature:
If formally published, it usually leans towards Fair Use

Amount:
This is what probably usually gets people. More you copy, further away it gets from fair use.

Effect:
More copies that are made further from Fair Use it goes. Especially, if you are harming the author's ability to make money.

You can see if a professors keeps make the same exact copies every semester and distributes them, they can be moving further and further away acceptable Fair Use protection.

If you have more questions about copyright, Karen Oye, Head of Customer Service at KSL, is someone I recommend you speak to. She is our in-house expert.

Brian C. Gray
Head of Reference
Librarian - Engineering, Math, & Statistics
Kelvin Smith Library (http://library.case.edu)
Personal Blog: http://blog.case.edu/bcg8/

Anonymous (in post 13194):

Alexander Hutnik:

Brian Gray:

Anonymous (in post 13187):

I know they have the right to reproduce for educational purposes only.

It is not quite that simple. If they are distributing the materials for every class they teach for every semester, it starts to go outside the "educational purpose" of the copyright.

Says who? At what point is it not fair use any more? I'd be interested in any documentation you have to back up that statement.

I think Brian Gray knows what he is talking about

Whatever you are suggesting, Greg, I never said he didn't know what he was talking about. I know he works in the library, and I was curious if he had any resources that talked about fair use. I, too, have wondered about fair use and it's impact on education here. Go troll another thread.

Brian, thank you very much for your information. I sincerely hope you didn't feel as if I was calling you out, as Greg is suggesting. I was sure to Facebook you to check up on your credentials.

Regarding what you posted, I was curious to see if you think there are any serious issues with intellectual property here at Case. Maybe there are some, but you'd rather not speak about them. But do you see cases of professors (or students) knowingly breach (or approach breaching) IP laws? Specifically, I wonder about the use of University property to breach those laws.

Thanks

-Alex A. Hutnik

Alexander Hutnik:

Brian, thank you very much for your information. I sincerely hope you didn't feel as if I was calling you out, as Greg is suggesting. I was sure to Facebook you to check up on your credentials.
Regarding what you posted, I was curious to see if you think there are any serious issues with intellectual property here at Case. Maybe there are some, but you'd rather not speak about them. But do you see cases of professors (or students) knowingly breach (or approach breaching) IP laws? Specifically, I wonder about the use of University property to breach those laws.

I was too quick to post anyways. I always tell people to back up their statements, and I did not do it myself.

I have not personally had experience with IP problems, but my interactions are very different with faculty and/or staff than a student might have.

Copyright is often broken, because it is misunderstood. It is specifically designed to be flexible in its interpretation by the court systems. This leads to personal interpretations of the law that might be stretching the concept of copyright just a little too far.

Copyright protects reproduction, distribution, performance, and display of works. We were all told back in elementary or high school copying was OK for educational uses. This is very true for an individual and can easily be justified. Once someone makes a copy and distributes it to others, you are getting deeper into the realm of copyright protections and many other factors come into play. The water becomes much murkier by the step of distribution.

Here is another resource that describes the basics of copyright.

Alexander Hutnik:

Whatever you are suggesting, Greg, I never said he didn't know what he was talking about. I know he works in the library, and I was curious if he had any resources that talked about fair use. I, too, have wondered about fair use and it's impact on education here.

I understand why Greg posted. I always tell people if you are going to participate in online forums or discussion lists, you better give data or another source that supports your position or comment. If not, why should anyone believe what another person says.