Our Brother's Keeper

Are media specialists responsible for the actions of their colleagues?

By Carrie Russell -- School Library Journal, 12/1/2004

One of our high school teachers plans to make a series of transparencies of a 12-page pamphlet that is copyrighted. In fact, it contains the warning: "We enforce all copyright laws." I told him it might be fine to copy a portion of the pamphlet, but making transparencies of the entire work was a violation of the law. Was I correct?
—Ken Lake, librarian and department chair, Prescott High School, Prescott, AZ

Although it's seldom the case, sometimes it is perfectly fine to copy an entire work! In this instance, it's helpful to refer to Section 110 of the copyright law, "Limitations on exclusive rights: exemption of certain performances and displays." You may recall that the copyright law grants a number of exemptions in order to make the law balanced and effective in "advancing the progress of science and the useful arts." Basically, the exemptions state that it's OK to exercise a copyright in these instances.

The high school teacher is simply exercising his right to display a work publicly. Since he works in a nonprofit, educational institution and will be using the copies for face-to-face teaching in a place devoted to instruction—the classroom—it's fine to make the transparencies. To meet his teaching objectives, he can display as much of the pamphlet as is necessary—even the entire thing. On the other hand, the rules and responsibilities for public display in the classroom via digital networks or with digital resources are different than a live-classroom situation.

The warning—"we enforce all copyright laws"—is a bit of a scare tactic, but it's essentially true. The copyright holder is responsible for discovering alleged infringements and bringing those cases to court. Those of us who work in libraries and schools respect the copyright law and are entitled to "exercise all of our legal exemptions." Thus far, we haven't found it necessary to announce our intents.

Some of our classroom teachers have asked me to catalog teachers' workbooks in the library media center. The workbooks contain exercises that are easily reproducible. But they come with explicit copyright statements, such as the following: "Permission is granted to the original subscriber to reproduce pages for individual classroom use only and not for resale or distribution. Reproduction for an entire school or school system is prohibited."

My colleagues have assured me that the workbooks won't be reproduced in their entirety, and copies will be made only on an as-needed basis by individual teachers. The library also subscribes to a number of professional magazines, such as Instructor, that offer reproducible activities. Although these magazines aren't cataloged, teachers may check them out. What is our copyright responsibility for these types of materials?
—Peggy Beal, library media specialist, Sinking Springs Elementary School, York, PA

These workbooks are often referred to as "consumables," although the law itself does not use this term. That means that the workbooks are purchased by or for an individual who then uses them as part of a class requirement. (It is an infringement to make copies of workbooks to avoid purchasing individual copies.)

In Peggy's case, let's assume that the teachers' workbooks are not required texts and that each student does not have her own copy. Making occasional copies of portions of the workbooks is a fair use. Indeed, the copyright holder is granting the original subscriber the right to reproduce pages. However, systematically reproducing the workbooks would have a negative effect on their market, and a teacher who does that would be stepping beyond the line of what's considered fair.

Since teachers at Peggy's school can check out workbooks, I'm guessing she is worried that they will reproduce complete copies on the sly. Is she responsible for the teachers' actions? Not according to my reading of the law. Still, public librarians and library media specialists do have a moral responsibility to make their users aware of the copyright law.

Author Information

Carrie Russell is the American Library Association's copyright specialist. She will answer selected questions from readers. Send questions to slj@reedbusiness.com, with "copyright" in the subject line. Be sure to include your title and the name of your school or public library. Note: Carrie's comments are not to be considered legal advice.

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