Copyright Policy
1. The copyrights of authors and other creators must be respected. Any use of copyrighted materials in violation of copyright law is a violation of school policy.
2. Copyright protected materials should not be used for educational purposes, including use in a classroom setting, as instructional materials, or otherwise unless the educator has either obtained permission of the copyright owner for the use in question, or the use is a privileged under copyright law.
3. Where time and circumstances permit, educators should obtain the permission of the copyright owner for the use of the materials in question unless such use is clearly privileged.
4. Use of work is privileged if it either qualifies under a statutory exemption such as the TEACH Act (granting extended use rights for various class uses of instructional materials under Section 110 of the Copyright Act), or qualifies as a fair use, and meets the Law School's Copyright Use Policy. Use of a work is also privileged if the use is within the scope of an applicable license for use of the work.
5. Educators cannot direct third parties, including without limitation staff, faculty or students, to use a copyrighted work in a manner which violates copyright laws and/or this Policy.
6. In order to avoid violating this Policy each educator must evaluate each work which s/he intends to use in connection with educational activities, using the guidelines set forth in this Policy.
7. When copyrighted materials are provided to students, including through posting of materials on websites associated with a course, a notice regarding the copyright protectable nature of such materials must be provided. The Administration shall promptly establish procedures regarding the form and placement of such notices and shall be responsible for revising any such form and placement in accordance with legal obligations under copyright law.
8. When in doubt as to whether a proposed use complies with this Policy, educators must contact the individual[s] designated by the Administration to determine if their proposed use complies with the Policy. The Administration shall designate individual[s] to develop and thereafter assume responsibility for establishing and managing a set of procedures that will allow individual faculty members who may need permission to use copyrighted materials in their classes to obtain permission from the pertinent copyright holders. At the individual faculty member's option, this designated person (or his or her delegates), rather than individual faculty members, shall handle the ministerial task of obtaining necessary copyright permissions. Where materials are used for in class instruction, the Law School itself, rather than individual faculty members, shall bear the reasonable cost of obtaining needed copyright permissions. For materials which are used as outside class study materials, the students shall bear the reasonable costs of necessary permissions. The arrangements for such costs shall be made by person[s] designated by the Administration and shall not be the responsibility of the individual faculty member.
9. The policy only applies to the ability to use materials under copyright law and does not address other laws which may prohibit or restrict the intended use, including, for example, privacy, right of publicity and contract. The policy does not confer legally enforceable rights upon any third party, and shall not be interpreted to expand the scope of copyright protection or prohibit any otherwise legal use of copyright protected materials.
Recommended Steps For Faculty
- Find whether your use is licensed through library purchased databases for non-commercial educational purposes?
- For a journal, use the Library’s A-to-Z list to see if online on HeinOnline, Lexis, Westlaw, BNA All, and JSTOR
- For non-journals, use the online directory on HeinOnline, Lexis, Westlaw, and BNA All, and JStor
- Find what books or DVDs the library has?
- Use the library catalog
- Determine whether your fair use is acceptable under copyright law?
- Put materials on library course reserve?
- Follow the Copyright Guidelines
- Complete the Submission Form for Library Reserves and Permissions on jmls.edu/copyrightpolicy
- Need at least two weeks, assuming the library already has the book or you are providing the items
- Have the library purchase materials needed for your class?
- Complete the Submission Form for Library Reserves and Permissions on jmls.edu/copyrightpolicy
- Need at least 1 month lead time
- Password protect online copyrighted course materials?
- Automatically through LegalEase/Contact IT for other services
- Receive a license for your use of materials?
- Complete the Submission Form for Library Reserves and Permissions on jmls.edu/copyrightpolicy
- Need at least 1 month lead time
- For each course, inform the administration that you have complied with the copyright policy?
- Complete the Verification of Compliance with Copyright Policy form on jmls.edu/copyrightpolicy