Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-For-Profit
Educational Institutions with Respect to Books and Periodicals
Published in House Report 94-1476
While negotiated as part of the legislative history of
copyright law in 1976, the following agreed to classroom guidelines (like the
later CONFU guidelines) are not legally binding.
The purpose of the following guidelines is to state the minimum and not the
maximum standards of educational fair use under § 107 of H.R. 2233. The
parties agree that the conditions determining the extent of permissible copying
for educational purposes may change in the future; that certain types of copying
permitted under these guidelines may not be permissible in the future; and
conversely that in the future other types of copying not permitted under these
guidelines may be permissible under revised guidelines.
Moreover, the following statement of guidelines is not
intended to limit the types of copying permitted under the standards of fair use
under judicial decision and which are stated in § 107 of the Copyright Revision
Bill. There may be instances in which copying which does not fall within
the guidelines stated below may nonetheless be permitted under the criteria of
fair use.
Guidelines
NOTE: These guidelines exclude non-print and
software programs.
I. SINGLE COPYING FOR TEACHERS:
A single copy may be made of any of the following by or for a
teacher at his or her individual request for his or her scholarly research or
use in teaching or 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.
II. MULTIPLE COPIES FOR CLASSROOM USE:
Multiple copies (not to exceed in any event more than one
copy per pupil in a course) may be made by or for the teacher giving the course
for classroom use or discussion; provided that:
- The copying meets the tests of brevity
and spontaneity as defined below:
- Meets the cumulative effect test as defined below;
and,
- Each copy includes a notice of copyright.
DEFINITIONS
Brevity:
Poetry: (a) A complete poem if
less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages or (b) from a
longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words.
Prose: (a) Either a complete
article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or (b) an excerpt from any
prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less,
but in any event a minimum of 500 words.
[Each of the
numerical limits stated in "i" and "ii" above may be expanded to permit the
completion of an unfinished line of a poem or of an unfinished prose paragraph.]
Illustration: One chart, graph,
diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue.
"Special" works: Certain works in
poetry, prose or in "poetic prose" which often combine language with
illustrations and which are intended sometimes for children and at other times
for a more general audience fall short of 2,500 words in their entirety.
Paragraph "ii" above notwithstanding such "special works" may not be reproduced
in their entirety; however, an excerpt comprising not more than two of the
published pages of such special work and containing not more than 10% of the
words found in the text thereof, may be reproduced.
Spontaneity:
The copying is at the instance and
inspiration of the individual teacher, and
The inspiration and decision to use the
work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close
in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for
permission.
Cumulative Effect:
The copying of the material is for only
one course in the school in which the copies are made.
Not more than one short poem, article,
story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, not more than
three from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term.
There shall not be more than nine
instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term.
[The limitations stated in "ii" and "iii"
above shall not apply to current news periodicals and newspapers and current
news sections of other periodicals.]
III. PROHIBITIONS AS TO I AND II ABOVE:
Notwithstanding any of the above, the following shall be
prohibited:
Copying shall not be used to
create or to replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective
works. Such replacement or substitution may occur whether copies of various
works or excerpts there from are accumulated or are
reproduced and used separately.
There shall be no copying of
or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or of teaching.
These include workbooks,
exercises, standardized tests and test booklets and answer sheets and like
consumable material.
Copying shall not:
- substitute for the purchase of books,
publishers’ reprints or periodicals;
- be directed by high authority;
- be repeated with respect to the same
item by the same teacher from term to term.
- no charge
shall be made to the student beyond the actual cost of
the photocopying.
AGREED
March 19, 1976
AD HOC COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT LAW REVISION
By Sheldon
Elliott Steinbach
AUTHOR-PUBLISHER GROUP
AUTHORS LEAGUE OF AMERICA
By Irwin Karp, Counsel
ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN PUBLISHERS, INC.
By Alexander C. Hoffman, Chairman Copyright Committee
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