distributing fiction chapters/short stories to students

← Return to forum

• February 28, 2008 @ 6:41pmLiz Barksdale says:

  A teacher at my college wants to make copies of some copyrighted works for her students who are inmates at a local prison. The works are fictional--one is the first chapter of a novel and the other is a short story.
  
  The teacher found the chapter on this site: http://web.archive.org/web/20011222025122/www.nku.edu/~peers/thethingstheycarried.htm
  
  I'm not sure if the person who posted it followed copyright procedures for posting fiction online. We're also not sure if it would be okay to make copies from this site and distribute them to the students.
  
  Any advice is much appreciated--I'm still fuzzy on fair use whenever fiction is involved. No one really makes course packets at the college where I work, but maybe instructors need to follow course packet permission procedures in cases like this?
  
  Thanks!
• March 3, 2008 @ 1:28pmMKardick says:

  Using the Four Factors checklist (you can find it on the forum's home page), here is my evaluation. Factor one - purpose is in favor because the use is for educational purpose and the access is limited to the class members. The second factor - nature is in favor due to the fact that it is an already published work and (here, I am making an assumption) is important to an educational objective. The third factor - amount is hard to make a determination because I do not know how much of the original the one chapter and one story comprise. If it is one part out of three total then I lean against fair use but if it is one part out of fifteen then my decision goes the other way. The fourth factor is effect on the market. I believe this factor is in favor of fair use since it is for a very small, contained audience.
  
  I would have the person teaching the class be sure they have a legally obtained copy (purchased outright or borrowed from a library) since you are unsure of the on-line posting.
  
  This is my opinion and not legal advice. If you still have doubts then I suggest you seek out additional advice at your institution.
• March 5, 2008 @ 11:35amCarrie says:

  I also think that the use you describe is fair. Sometimes we forget that the fair use section of the law includes the language "multiple copies for classroom use." The US Congress used this as an example of fair use.
  
  Also the story you found on the web is in the Wayback machine. If you look at the license terms, you will see mention that at the request of rights holders, content is removed from the site. I think we can assume that the rights holder does not care if you use the article otherwise they would have asked that the story be removed. Also the license indicates that use must be limited to non-profit and educational use. This is also a good sign that you can move forward and make the copies.
• March 6, 2008 @ 11:37amLiz Barksdale says:

  Also the story you found on the web is in the Wayback machine. If you look at the license terms, you will see mention that at the request of rights holders, content is removed from the site. I think we can assume that the rights holder does not care if you use the article otherwise they would have asked that the story be removed. Also the license indicates that use must be limited to non-profit and educational use. This is also a good sign that you can move forward and make the copies.

  Thanks for the advice! Can you tell me where you found the license terms? Maybe I am just not seeing something obvious, but were they on the actual site where the chapter was reproduced? Thanks again, Liz
• March 6, 2008 @ 11:54amAFry says:

  I wouldn't say that you missed something obvious. The terms are on the Wayback Machine's site, not the original Northern Kentucky University website.
  
  "Access to the Archive’s Collections is provided at no cost to you and is granted for scholarship and research purposes only."
  
  "The Internet Archive respects the intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights of others. The Internet Archive may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, remove certain content or disable access to content that appears to infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your copyright has been violated by material available through the Internet Archive, please provide the Internet Archive Copyright Agent with the following information:"
  http://www.archive.org/about/terms.php

Posting to the forum is only available to users who are logged in.

← Return to forum