Student assignments posted on MSU-hosted web sites, including course space with password-protection, need to comply with U.S. law and with MSU’s copyright policies. These works should not include copyright protected materials (including images, audio, video, and text) unless permission has been obtained.
It is important to make this policy clear to students.
As a public university MSU has an obligation to uphold U.S. copyright law. The consequences for copyright infringement can be expensive and willful infringement is a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy. Students should exercise particular caution when using photographs (especially photographs of celebrities), trademarked material, or images and media from other websites. Students should not copy text except in small amounts consistent with the “fair use� tests in Title 17, Section 107, of the U.S. Code (see below for more information). Any fair use copying should also have an appropriate footnote or other reference so that it does not appear to be plagiarized.
Here are a few simple reminders for students:
- Use original material -- your own words, your own scanned photos or original artwork. Photos you take are generally permitted, unless they just reproduce copyright or trademarked material. Pictures of yourself, your pets, and the scenery are safe. Pictures of groups are O.K., but you should ask permission before taking pictures of individuals.
- It is safe to link to web sites and linking is almost always safer than copying, even if a site appears to give permission. A permission for “personal use only� is not the same as a permission to make a copy to share with others in your classes.
- If copying content is essential to an assignment, request permission from the rights holder and include that permission with your assignment. The webmaster for a site may be a good place to start to request a permission. Remember that receiving no response is not the same as getting permission.
- “Fair use� copying is allowed under U.S. law, but it can be difficult to determine what exactly a fair use is. It is never a whole work or even a substantial portion of a work, and photographs, drawings, and images count as individual works, even if found in a book or other larger work. As a rough rule of thumb, copying a paragraph from a 10 page article would be fair (with proper footnoting), but copying two or more pages would not be. The guidelines for music and multimedia are even stricter. You should never use more than 30 seconds (or 10%) of a musical work -- whichever is shorter. If you are in doubt about whether a use is fair, either do not use it or ask an appropriate person for advice. More information about “fair use� can be found at http://copyright.lib.msu.edu or at the University of Texas Copyright Crash Course at http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/copypol2.htm.