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Q & A ABOUT COPYRIGHT
Q. What exactly do you mean by “Copyright Compliance”?
A. We take the bibliographic data that you provide and use it to contact individual publishers. Once a publisher grants copyright permission on a work a hard copy contract is kept on file. Because this process can be both demanding and complicated, it is our pleasure to relieve you of the responsibility to attain copyright permission for your custom course materials.
Q. How do I know if a work is actually copyrighted or not?
A. It is best to assume that any material created by an individual or organization is copyrighted. There are certain documents that are in the Public Domain such as material published before 1923 (and used in the form of that original document) and government publications. Let us investigate any material for you and examine the status of copyright and/or the need for permission of use.
Q. How long will it take to obtain copyright permission?
A. It all depends. Many publishers have a very quick turn-around time and grant permission for some requests instantly. However, it is best to allow at least two weeks, and often as much as four weeks, to obtain copyright permission. Once you turn your materials in to us we begin processing them immediately.
Q. Since I’m a member of the academic community can’t I use material for my class for free?
A. In many cases, no. “Fair Use” of copyrighted materials rarely applies. Copyright law does allow for spontaneous use where the material you wish to use was just discovered moments before use as a teaching tool. As you can imagine, this doesn’t apply to many situations as class materials are usually planned out weeks in advance.
Q. Is material found on the internet copyright protected?
A. In general, yes. And while it might seem that because the material is available for free to your students (because they can view the website), actually reproducing the material on paper or posting it on Blackboard, Web CT or other course management systems or websites means that copyright permission must be sought.
Q. How much will each selection cost?
A. Each publisher sets a different price for their materials. In many cases, we negotiate lower prices, gratis permissions, and blanket contracts for your material. In addition, we can provide a copyright quote for your course reader, as well as a quote for the total cost, including production expenses.
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