COPYRIGHT

It is the intent of the Board that all employees and students of Pitt County Schools comply with the United States Copyright Law, Title 17. The copying or use of copyrighted material not specifically permitted or exempted by the copyright law, fair use guidelines, license agreements, or explicit permission of the copyright owner is prohibited.

The Board mandates the development of a copyright procedure detailing copyright guidelines for the school system. The procedure should include information on obtaining copyright permissions and licensing and purchasing agreements, as well as cover, but not be limited to, the following topics:
General principles
Fair use
Print materials
Library / media center guidelines
Music
Off-Air Recordings of Broadcast Programs
Rental or Home Videos
Computer Software and CD-ROM Products

System and building-level administrators shall have the responsibility for:
Implementing the policy;
Keeping employees and students aware of the copyright law and informing them of current interpretations of the law;
Answering questions concerning the law;
Maintaining appropriate records of permissions, agreements, and licenses; and
Placing appropriate warning notices on or near all print, video, and computer equipment capable of making or modifying copies.

Employees or students who willfully disregard the Copyright Policy or its approved Procedures do so at their own risk and assume all liability for infringements of the policy and the law. In the case of a court action for damages, a finding of willful infringement would relieve the School Board of paying any fees connected with the judgment incurred in conjunction with the lawsuit. The student or employee may be liable to the Board for any legal damages incurred by the Board.

Procedure for Copyright

This procedure is designed to explain how the requirements of federal copyright law affect the employees and students of Pitt County Schools. Any staff members or students who are uncertain whether reproducing or using copyrighted material complies with the district's policy or is permissible under the law should contact the Media Specialist in their school. The Media Specialist will also assist staff in the procedures for obtaining authorization to copy or use protected material when such authorization is required.
Staff members who fail to follow this procedure may be held personally liable for copyright infringement.

1. General Principles
While the district encourages its staff to enrich learning programs by making proper use of supplementary materials, it is the responsibility of staff to obey the requirements of the copyright law. The district will not be responsible for any violations of the copyright law by its staff or students. Severe penalties may be imposed for unauthorized copying or using of audio, visual or printed materials and computer software.
Only copyrighted materials are subject to copying and use restrictions. Un-copyrighted materials may be copied freely and without restriction.
Works published prior to March 1, 1989, generally require a copyright notice to be protected.
Because a copyright notice is not required for copyright protection of works published on or after March 1, 1989, most works (except those authored by the United States Government) should be presumed to be copyright protected, unless further information from the copyright holder or express notice reveals that the copyright holder intends the work to be in the public domain.
Further information on how to determine the copyright status of a work can be found in the U.S. Library of Congress Copyright Office Circular 22 or at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ22.html.

2. Fair Use
Copyrighted materials may be copied or otherwise used without the copyright owner's permission where such copying constitutes "fair use" under the Copyright Act. Under the "fair use" doctrine, unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted materials is permissible for such purposes as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship research. To fall within the bounds of fair use, the duplication or modification of a copyrighted product must meet all of the following guidelines:
THE PURPOSE AND CHARACTER OF THE USE: The use must be for such purposes as teaching or scholarship and must be nonprofit.
THE NATURE OF THE COPYRIGHTED WORK: Single copies of the following may be made for use in research, instruction or preparation for teaching:
book chapters;
articles from periodicals or newspapers;
short stories, essays or poems; and
charts, graphs, diagrams, drawings, cartoons or pictures from books, periodicals, or newspapers.
THE AMOUNT AND SUBSTANTIALITY OF THE PORTION USED: In most circumstances, copying the whole of a work cannot be considered fair use. (See the Print Materials section on Brevity for guidelines as to when copying a small portion may be considered fair use.)
THE EFFECT OF THE USE UPON THE POTENTIAL MARKET FOR OR VALUE OF THE COPYRIGHTED WORK: If resulting economic loss to the copyright holder can be shown, even making a single copy of certain materials may be an infringement, and making multiple copies presents the danger of greater penalties.

3. Print Materials
A. In preparing for instruction, a teacher may make or have made a single copy of:
a chapter from a book;
an article from a newspaper or periodical;
a short story, short essay or short poem; or
a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper.
B. A teacher may make multiple copies, not exceeding one per pupil, for classroom use or discussion if the copying meets the tests of "brevity, spontaneity and cumulative effect" as set forth by the following guidelines. Each copy must include the notice of copyright present in the original work.
Brevity
A complete poem, if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages, may be copied; excerpts from longer poems cannot exceed 250 words;
b. Complete articles, stories or essays of less than 2500 words may be copied. Excerpts of not more than 1000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is smaller, may be copied from prose works.
Each numerical limit set forth above may be expanded to permit the completion of an unfinished line of a poem or an unfinished prose paragraph;
One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or periodical issue may be copied.
"Special" works cannot be reproduced in full under any circumstances. However, an excerpt of not more than two published pages containing not more than 10% of the words in the text of such special work may be reproduced. What constitutes a "special" work is not clearly defined, but special works include children's books that combine poetry, prose or poetic prose with illustrations and are less than 2500 words in their entirety.
2. Spontaneity
Copying should be at the "instance and inspiration" of the individual teacher, and the inspiration and decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission.
3. Cumulative Effect
Teachers are limited to using copied material for only one course in the school in which copies are made. No more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts from the same author may be copied. No more than three works or excerpts can be copied from a collective work or periodical volume during one class term. Teachers are limited to nine instances of multiple copying for one course during one class term. However, the numerical limitations set forth above do not apply to current news periodicals, newspapers and current news sections of other periodicals.
Performances by teachers or students of copyrighted dramatic works without authorization from the copyright owner are permitted as part of a teaching activity in a classroom or instructional setting. All other performances require permission from the copyright owner.
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, copyright law prohibits using copies to create, replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works.
There shall be no copying of or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or of teaching. "Consumable" works include: workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, test booklets and answer sheets. Teachers cannot substitute copies for the purchase of books, publishers' reprints or periodicals, nor can they repeatedly copy the same item from term-to-term.
C. Teachers may use original copyrighted material in overhead or opaque projectors for instructional purposes.

4. Library / Media Center Guidelines
A. A library may make a single copy (containing the notice of copyright present on the original work) of:
1. an unpublished work which is in its collection solely for purposes of preservation and security or for deposit for research use in another qualified library or archives; and
2. a published work in order to replace it because it is damaged, deteriorated, lost or stolen, provided that an unused replacement cannot be obtained at a fair price.
B. A library may provide a single copy of copyrighted material to a student or staff member at no more than the actual cost of photocopying. The copy must be limited to one article of a periodical issue or a small part of other material, unless the library finds that the copyrighted work cannot be obtained elsewhere at a fair price. In the latter circumstance, the entire work may be copied. In any case, the copy shall contain the notice of copyright present in the original work and the student or staff member shall be notified that the copy is to be used only for private study, scholarship or research. Any other use may subject the person to liability for copyright infringement, and the library shall not make a copy if it has notice of any other use.
C. The foregoing reproduction right shall not apply to:
musical works;
motion pictures or other audiovisual works (other than an audiovisual work dealing with news); or
3. pictorial, graphic or sculptural works (other than pictorial or graphic works published as illustrations, diagrams or similar adjuncts to works of which copies are reproduced hereunder).
D. At the request of a teacher, copies may be made for reserve use. The limits found in Section III, Print Materials, apply to all such copying for teachers.

5. Music
A. For purposes of preparing for instruction, other than performance, teachers may make a single copy of an entire performable unit (section), movement, aria, etc. from a printed musical work that is confirmed by the copyright proprietor to be out of print or unavailable except in a larger work.
B. A teacher may make multiple copies not exceeding one copy per pupil for classroom use of an excerpt of not more than 10% of a printed musical work if it is to be used for academic purposes other than performance, provided that the excerpt does not comprise a part of the whole musical work which would constitute a performable unit such as a selection, movement, or aria. In an emergency, a teacher may make and use replacement copies of printed music for an imminent musical performance when the purchased copies have been lost, destroyed or are otherwise not available, provided that purchased copies shall be substituted in due course.
C. A teacher may make and retain a single recording of student performances of copyrighted material when it is made for purposes of evaluation or rehearsal.
D. A teacher may make and retain a single copy of excerpts from recordings of copyrighted musical works owned by the school or the individual teacher for use as aural exercises or examination questions.
E. A teacher may edit or simplify purchased copies of music provided that the fundamental character of the music is not distorted. Lyrics shall not be altered or added if none exist.
F. Copying cannot be used to create, replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works. Copying of consumable works is prohibited. Copying for the purpose of performance is prohibited, except in the case of an emergency as set forth above. Copying for the purpose of substituting for the purchase of music is prohibited, except as set forth in the first and second paragraphs above. All copies must include the copyright notice appearing on the printed copy.
G. Performance by teachers or students of copyrighted musical works is permitted without the authorization of the copyright owner as part of a teaching activity in a classroom or instructional setting. The purpose shall be instructional rather than for entertainment.
H. If the requirements of the foregoing paragraph are not satisfied, performances of non-dramatic musical works that are copyrighted are permitted without the authorization of the copyright owner, provided that:
The performance is not for a commercial purpose;
None of the performers, promoters or organizers are compensated; and
There is no direct or indirect admission charge or any admission fees are used for educational or charitable purposes only.
However, If the copyright owner objects to the performance of a copyrighted work, the performance must be cancelled or a legally-binding agreement must be made with the copyright owner.
I. All other musical performances require permission from the copyright owner.

6. Off-Air Recording of Broadcast Programs
Television programs transmitted by television stations for reception by the general public without charge (hereinafter referred to as "broadcast programs") may be recorded off-air simultaneously with broadcast transmission (including simultaneous cable retransmission) and retained by a school for a period not to exceed the first forty-five (45) consecutive calendar days after date of recording. Upon conclusion of this retention period, all off-air recordings must be erased or destroyed immediately.
Off-air recordings may be used once by individual teachers in the course of relevant instructional activities, and repeated once only when instructional reinforcement is necessary in classrooms and similar places devoted to instruction, during the first ten (10) consecutive school days in the forty-five (45) calendar day retention period. "School days" are school session days – not counting weekends, holidays, vacations, examination periods or other scheduled interruptions.
Off-air recordings may be made only at the request of and used by individual teachers, and may not be regularly recorded in anticipation of requests. No broadcast program may be recorded off-air more than once at the request of the same teacher, regardless of the number of times the program may be broadcast.
A limited number of copies may be reproduced from each off-air recording to meet the legitimate needs of teachers under these guidelines. Each additional copy shall be subject to all provisions governing the original recording.
After the first ten (10) consecutive school days, off-air recordings may be used up to the end of the forty-five (45) calendar day retention period only for teacher evaluation purposes, i.e., to determine whether or not to include the broadcast program in the teaching curriculum. Permission must be secured from the publisher before the recording can be used for instructional purposes or any other non-evaluation purpose after the ten (10) day period.
Off-air recordings need not be used in their entirety, but the recorded programs may not be altered from their original content. Off-air recordings may not be physically or electronically combined or merged to constitute teaching anthologies or compilations.
All copies of off-air recordings must include the copyright notice on the broadcast program as recorded, and the date the recording was made must be notated on the label.

7. Rental or Home Videos
Videos may only be rented for classroom use from agencies or companies which allow for such use. Many retail video rental stores have strict license agreements prohibiting use with large, non-home audiences. These restrictions may also apply to the use of videos purchased for home use. Staff is expected to review and honor these agreements.

8. Computer Software and CD-ROM Products
Copyrighted software may be copied without the copyright owner's permission only in accordance with the Copyright Act. Section 117 of the Act permits making an archival back-up copy. Most software, however, is licensed to the user and the terms of the license agreement may give the user permission to make copies of the software in excess of the archival copy permitted by the Copyright Act. Each software license agreement is unique. As a result, the user's rights to copy licensed software beyond that permitted under the Copyright Act may only be determined by reading the user's license agreement. Any copying or reproduction of copyrighted software on networks or personal computers owned by or housed in Pitt County Schools facilities must be in accordance with the Copyright Act and the pertinent software license agreement. Further, faculty, staff and students may not use unauthorized copies of software on networks or personal computers owned by or housed in Pitt County Schools facilities.
Guidelines:
All copyright laws and license agreements between the vendor and the district shall be observed.
Staff members shall take reasonable precautions to prevent copying or the use of unauthorized copies on school equipment, to avoid the installation of privately purchased software on school equipment and to avoid the use of single copy software or CD-ROM products across a network with multiple users unless such use is permitted by the applicable license agreement.
A back-up copy shall be purchased for use as a replacement when a program is lost or damaged. If the vendor is not able to supply such, the district shall make a back-up program in accordance with the terms of the applicable license agreement U.S. Code Title 17 and attest that the program will be used for replacement purposes only.
The principal is authorized to sign a software license agreement on behalf of the school. A copy of said agreement shall be retained by the principal.

For further clarification on Fair Use, see the U.S. Copyright Office Circular 21 (http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf).