teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement.” The Act itself sheds no more light on what is fair use in an educational setting. We do have some guidelines, however, courtesy of a 1976 agreement by the Ad Hoc Committee of Educational Institutions and Organizations on Copyright Law Revision, the Authors League of America, and the Association of American Publishers. The Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-for-Profit Educational Institutions was part of the 1976 Act’s legislative history.[1] Here are its highlights:
(1) A single copy of a journal or newspaper article, a book chapter, or a drawing may be made by or for a teacher for research or to help teach or prepare to teach a class.
(2) A teacher may provide one copy of a copyrighted work to each pupil in his or her class (i.e., multiple copies) under the following conditions:
- A. Brevity: (1) a 2,500 word article, or, if article is greater than 2,500 words, a 1,000 word excerpt or 10%, whichever is less (but at least 500 words).
- B. Spontaneity: (1) The copying is made at the teacher’s insistence and inspiration (rather than being directed from above by a principal, department chair, or dean); and (2) There was no time to get permission from the copyright owner.
- C. Cumulative effect: (1) The copying is done for a single course (but multiple sections of the same course are okay); (2) No more than one article from a single author or three articles from a journal volume are copied during a class term; and (3) There are no more than nine instances of copying during a term, and the same materials are not copied from term to term.
- D. You cannot copy to create anthologies, compilations, or collective works (i.e., “coursepacks”).
We believe the Guidelines are overly restrictive. For example, a teacher may not copy for her students an entire article if it is longer than 2,500 words. Although the typical Newsweek or Time article will fit comfortably within the 2,500-word limit, that is not true for articles in scholarly journals.
- ↑ H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, at 68–70. The Guidelines are reproduced in Appendix C to this book.
