August 9, 2004 @ 13:08pm
A note in an instructor's manual says: Instructors of classes adopting [this textbook] as an assigned textbook may reproduce material from this publication for classroom use." I think this means pages can be photocopied and distributed in class to students.
An instructor wants to put together coursepacks of pages from this manual and sell them to students in the bookstore. I think this would be a case of copyright infringement, because there is no "fair use" for coursepacks. Am I correct?
August 9, 2004 @ 13:08pm
I'll take a stab at this but would be interested in what others think.
It's hard to know what the copyright holder had in mind when he said that
pages could be reproduced for classroom use. I read the message as indicating that only when the textbook is assigned (purchased), is one allowed to do this additional copying.
Do you know if the students are required to purchase the textbook?
I think that fair use could be exercised when considering each individual work within a coursepack. So there may be instances when a small portion of a copyrighted work might be included in a coursepack without prior authorization.
In this situation, we need more information in order to consider fair use. If the teacher is trying to avoid having the students purchase the textbook, that is probably trouble.
August 9, 2004 @ 13:08pm
The textbook is the one adopted for use by the class. I know "fair use" will allow the instructor to use several pages from the manual, but I get the impression that they want to copy a great deal of it and put it into a course pack. I think the coursepack is the problem. If they photocopied and distributed the copies to the students in class, I don't think that is a problem. My interpretation is that the problem arises when they want to put many pages into a coursepack.
August 9, 2004 @ 13:08pm
In general, I think your assumption is correct, especially if a good portion of text is included in the course pack. (I assume without prior authorization). If the text is assigned to the students, why the need to place materials in a course pack in the first place? How about placing a copy of the textbook on reserve in the library? That would be a great way to expand access to a purchased copy.
August 9, 2004 @ 13:08pm
The material is assigned to students but consists of reproducibles from the instructor's manual that came with the teacher's edition of the textbook. I will suggest putting the instructor's manual on reserve in the library as one possible solution. I think distributing handouts in class as needed is another possibility. I will advise the instructor to get permission if she wants to compile the coursepack. Thanks for the input.