OT: Are you allowed to copy books for your own use? Classroom?

Hey, a copy shop manager (night) tried to tell me I couldn't copy sections of books.

So the question before us is: May a person copy a book for their own use? and may a teacher copy parts of a book and pass it out in class?

Just wondering. jb

Reply to
haiticare2011
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Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered include shall

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

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So... making one copy of a few pages out of a book, so that you can include it with a term paper that criticizes or analyzes the author's arguments or approach, is probably at the "fair use" end of this set of factors. It's not a use for your profit, it's only a small fragment of the copyrighted work, and you aren't going to affect the market for copies of the book by doing this.

Copying the whole book for your own personal use fails the "amount and substantiality" test, since you're cloning the whole thing... and you've affected the market by not buying a copy at a fair price. Basically, all you've done by copying it is try to save yourself money, and that's not "fair use".

For a teacher to hand out copies of parts of a book... well, this gets to the "it depends" region. If it's just a small part, and (especially) if it's a nonprofit teaching situation, then it may be OK. If it's a large part, or if the materials are handed out by a teacher at a for-profit educational institution, that may not be "fair use".

Now, if you can demonstrate that the copyright on a book has lapsed... then it's legal to copy it in whole or in part. You might need to be able to have proof of this in-hand to persuade a copy-shop manager, though.

Reply to
David Platt

** He's an idiot.

** The copyright owner may not like the idea, but there is no chance they will come after you - for a start how are they gonna know?

Copyright law creates a series of *rights* ( rights to license, sell and sue ) it's not a law.

The police are not involved.

** Of course, happens every day.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

I agree.

Yes, I agree with all the points by people here. It's relevant to point out that the schools rake in $$ from text books, so tell the teachers not to hand out copies. Now, a school book store buys a book for $100 and sells it for 200$ - typical retail mark-up. Let's suppose a school has 10,000 students each spending 1200 a year on the books. So 600x10exp4 = 6 million dollars. Every year.

I personally believe education should be free - cheaper than running prisons. Of course, it's more complex than that. jb

Reply to
haiticare2011

YES; "for personal use" is allowed in the law. "Quote parts of a work" allowed for reviews, source to be attributed. From Wikipedia: ..copyright protection does not extend to certain kinds of uses that fall under what the treaty calls "fair practice," including but not limited to minimal quotations used in journalism and education. Hopefully that covers your questions.

Reply to
Robert Baer

Copyright _LAW_ means just that..

** The phrase has no meaning other than a reference to the various copyright acts in force.

** There is no law to enforce.

** Absolute bollocks.

Piss off FUCKHEAD

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Gee, you contradicted yourself - and in the SAME sentence: "Copyright law creates a series of *rights* ( rights to license, sell and sue ) it's not a law" Copyright _LAW_ means just that.. The method of enforcement may not be via the police or a sheriff but one can be hauled into court and be subjected to fines and perhaps imprisonment anyway.

Reply to
Robert Baer

Hell, six msgabucks is a LOT cheaper than prisons!

Reply to
Robert Baer

He is actually right. Unusual to find one that is so diligent though.

Our library is pretty tight on not allowing wholesale copying of books on their photocopiers - a few pages or one article/paper is no problem but a whole chapter would be pushing it.

People do it though and sign the copying register as "own ms".

You will also find that photoprinting services will not allow you to use their kit to scan and reprint professional wedding photos (picking another common example where the public get caught by copyright law).

No. But some still do (and now that scanners are ubiquitous it is virtually impossible to prevent people PDFing a book at home).

Depends how much. A couple of pages is fine, but large chunks of a text book could land them in trouble.

BTW secondhand university books can be a bargain.

--
Regards, 
Martin Brown
Reply to
Martin Brown

Huh? Haven't you been listening or reading the law? It does NOT restrict individual use in any way. The common law behind copyrights is civil, not criminal. If I infringe a patent, for instance, the enforcement will be a judge's ruling coupled with a consequent award of damages in a civil suit that is practically rubber stamp. But, patents allow individual use. A famous case is my great great grandfather Eli Whtney. (name dropping.) He invented the cotton gin, but plantation owners just legally built their own. So he made no money on it. He then had another original idea, interchangeable parts, and got the first military contract for musket parts. The point is partially practical. Judges like to enforce laws they practically csn. Enforcement of personal behavior is a hassle. IP law concerns civil damages in the marketplace primarily, so if you don't sell it, the law doesn't try to cover it. This has ramifications for free online music downloading (legal), free pictures of people in public (legal), dvd copying machines (legal), Google databasing and snooping your search habits (legal). Much of this behavior violates the unreasonable search provision of the Constitution, and common sense dictates you don't want a pedophile photographing your children with Google glasses and sending the GPS to NAMBLA, for instance. j

Reply to
haiticare2011

How? Surely nobody much pays the university bookstore price anymore. There aren't huge stacks of textbooks sitting there the way there used to be.

My kids got all theirs from Amazon or ABE (also owned by Amazon, but still distinct and usually better). Undergraduate publishing is a racket, all right--twelve editions of the same content, with different pagination and problem numbers to make it hard to use the previous edition.

Just a little. ;) Have a look at the history of the University of Witwatersrand for what happens when you do that. As the carnies say, "The marks won't listen unless you make 'em pay."

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
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Reply to
Phil Hobbs

You are explicitly allowed to copy 1 chapter or up to 10% of a book - whichever is less for the purpose of study. There are some other bits to it (you may... you may not...) but that is the meat of it.

It makes no difference if it is for an audience of 1 or 1000 although as was pointed out if it is for 1 then who else is going to know (an ethical question for you to resolve).

Reply to
David Eather

** But none that would apply to the OP's question or any example like it.

And THAT is the context here.

FOAD you trolling IDIOT.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Gee, at least you are *JUST* smart enough to read..

Reply to
Robert Baer

"Robert Baer"

** Mr Bear - I wipe my ass on smarter objects than you.

FYI:

If context shifting were a sport, you would be a champion.

But it isn't, so you are just another boorish, usenet troll.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

What country are you from? Laws differ in different countries.

Can you get the book for cheaper online?

If you happen to be visiting a third-world country, often textbooks and engineering handbooks are sold there for a fraction of the price charged in say the USA.

Michael

Reply to
mrdarrett

Absolutely true.

Reply to
dakupoto

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