Hamilton Heights High School Library

Protection of intellectual property rights is often confusing. It is difficult to know what is and is not considered "fair use." Listed below are some guidelines that will help give the most important aspects of copyright compliance:

• Purpose: Free educational use of material is permitted. You may not, however, copy material to include in a published anthology or some other material that students are required to purchase. It is permissible to charge students for no more than the cost of the copy.
  
  
• Amount: Copying excerpts that are short in comparison to the overall work is usually permitted. The general rule of thumb is no more than 10% of the total amount of the work.
  
  
• Effect: If the copies that you are making do not effect the copyright owner's ability to make money, then the copies are usually acceptable. In other words, if there will be no reduction in sales as a result of your copies, then it is generally considered to be fair use.

The choice to copy material must also be considered to be spontaneous. This means that ongoing copying of the same material is not allowed.

There are several places to learn more about fair use of copyrighted material. A chart of fair use guidelines for teachers that offers specific rules for different kinds of materials may be found at:  http://www.mediafestival.org/copyrightchart.html . An in-depth discussion of the topic that includes guidelines for Internet material may be found at the University of Maryland's guide:  http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.html.