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⚖️ Copyright Law

Please read the information below to understand the District’s copyright policy pertaining to printed and photocopied materials.  Serious consequences, including civil damages, may result of violation of copyright laws.  To review the district’s board policy on copyright, please refer to the district’s board policies on line at the BISD website.
 
Fair Use
A.  Printed Materials
Permissible uses – district employees may:
Make a single copy of the following for use in teaching or in preparation to teach a class:
  • A chapter from a book;
  • An article from a periodical or newspaper;
  • A short story, short essay or short poem, whether or not from a collective work;
  • A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper.
Make multiple copies for classroom use (not to exceed one copy per student in a course) from the following:
  • A complete poem if it has fewer than 250 words and does not exceed two printed pages in length;
  • A complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words;
  • Prose excerpts not to exceed 10 percent of whole or 1,000 words, whichever is less;
  • One chart, graph, diagram, cartoon or picture per book or per issue of a periodical;
  • An excerpt from a children’s book containing up to 10 percent of the words found in the text.
 
All permitted copying must bear a copyright reference.  The reference should include the author, title, date and any other pertinent information.
 
 
Prohibited uses – district employees may not:
  • Copy more than one work or two excerpts from a single author during one class term;
  • Copy more than three works from a collective work or periodical volume during one class term;
  • Copy more than nine sets of multiple copies for distribution to students in one class term;
  • Copy to create or replace or substitute for anthologies or collective works;
  • Copy “consumable” works, such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and answer sheets;
  • Copy the same work from term to term;
  • Copy the same material for more than one particular course being offered (may not copy every time a particular course is offered) unless permission is obtained from the copyright owner.
 
All sound recordings, including phonograph records, audio tapes, compact discs and laser discs will be treated under the same provisions that guide the use of print materials unless as may otherwise be excepted by regulations governing the reproduction of works for libraries/media centers.
 
B.  Sheet and Recorded Music
Permissible uses – district employees may:
  • Make emergency copies to replace purchased copies which for any reason are not available for an imminent performance provided purchased replacement copies will be substituted in due course;
  • Make, for academic purposes other than performance, multiple copies (one per student) of excerpts not constituting an entire performance unit such as a section, movement or aria, but in any case no more than 10 percent of the whole work;
  • Make, for academic purposes other than performance, a single copy of an entire copyright holder to be out of print or the “unit” is unavailable except in a larger work.  The copy may be made solely for the purpose of scholarly research or in preparation to teach a class;
  • Edit or simplify printed copies which have been purchased provided that the fundamental character of the work is not distorted or the lyrics, if any, altered or lyrics added if non existent;
  • Copy complete works which are out of print or unavailable, except in large works and used for teaching purposes;
  • Make a single copy of a recorded performance by students to be retained by the school or individual teacher for evaluation or rehearsal purposes;
  • Make a single copy of a sound recording, such as a tape, disc or cassette, of copyrighted music owned by the school or an individual teacher for constructing aural exercises or examinations and retained for the same purposes.
 
 
Prohibited uses – district employees may not:
  • Copy to create or replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations, or collective works;
  • Copy works intended to be “consumable,” such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and answer sheets;
  • Copy for the purpose of performance (excepted as noted under permissible uses in emergencies);
  • Copy to substitute for purchase of music (except as noted under permissible uses);
  • Copy without inclusion of the copyright notice on the copy.