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How Does Copyright Affect What You Do?

Faculty: Classroom Photocopying

Colleen looking at books

Copying multiple copies of a work for the classroom is legal if it meets three tests:

Meeting the Spontaneity test is easy. The decision to use the material and the time when you teach the relevant class is close enough that it would be unlikely that you could reach the copyright holder for permission to copy. However, continuing use of the article without obtaining copyright permission would be a violation of fair use.

Meeting the Cumulative effect test is also easy:

The Brevity test - the fact that you can't copy too much of a work - is a little more complicated. We'll look at that next.

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updated: 8/15/11