In short, copyright compliance is making sure that the copyright law is adhered to and that all necessary permissions by the rights holder have been secured. Note: Verbal permission is not a legal means of compliance, a hard copy is required (e.g., a contract or a letter from the copyright owner).

Not necessarily, even if you are distributing them for free to students. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of copyright. The "Fair Use" doctrine allows limited copying of materials for classroom use under the conditions of brevity, spontaneity, nature of the work and the cumulative effect.

• Brevity relates to the length of the work in question. For example, a professor may make copies of a complete poemthat is less than 250 words or an excerpt of a longer poem, but not more than 250 words. A professor may copy and article, story, or essay that is fewer than 2,500 words or an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less. A professor may make limited copies of one chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue.
• Spontaneity means that the copying occurs at the instance and inspiration of the professor. The decision and inspiration to use the material occurs so close to the time the material is needed as a teaching tool that it becomes unreasonable to expect a timely permission response. An example of spontaneity is a case in which a professor reads an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution that would help illustrate a point to be made in his/her next lecture. Spontaneity does not occur when a professor decides three weeks in advance to copy an article from Time Magazine.
• Nature of the work—if the work is a dramatic or creative item, it is less likely to be allowed, whereas a factual work in nature could be more likely used in favor of Fair Use.
• The Cumulative Effect of copying involves several issues; the number of copies cannot exceed the number of students enrolled in the course; nor more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author or more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term. Specifically, there cannot be more than nine instances of multiple copying for one course during one class term.

Most published works contain a copyright notice, either on the title page or on the acknowledgments page. If you have a photocopy of the work, you should go to the original source for the copyright citation. Note: the copyright citation may not accurately indicate the copyright owner. For example, many authors do not own the copyrights to their own works. A citation may indicate a particular publisher, but the rights may revert to a different publisher. The best method for determining copyright ownership involves contacting the publisher of the material you wish to use. When in doubt, ALWAYS seek permission.

Not necessarily. Most websites are copyrighted, and you must get permission from them to distribute their content. However, there are those sites though that specifically state that content may be used for educational purposes, but for the most part, you will need to get permission.

The average permission can be secured in four to six weeks, but that depends on the copyright owner. Some publishers can take up to eight weeks to return permission. The KSU bookstore works with both the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) and LAD Custom Publishing, a middle men of sorts, to secure permissions. Through these partnerships, we can often receive permission within a week; however, this is not always the case, especially during peak times (the weeks right before and during a semester's start.) The sooner that you can provide us the bibliographic information, the better. It is easier for us to cancel permission than it is to secure it-remember you can always make changes later.

Custom Publishing was created as a response to the need of educators. Instructors needed a cost-efficient, legally compliant alternative to supplement traditional classroom materials. One of the most valued concepts about custom-designed courseware is that all material is current and relevant as you choose it to be. Since you elect only the information you need, your initiative will always be on target. Students prefer course packs, since they are generally utilized more fully by the faculty member.

Lecture notes, old exams, lab manuals, music compositions, excerpts from books, journal and magazine articles, and out-of-print books.

Once you have chosen the materials for the packets, see the Getting Started page. This will walk you through the fast and easy steps to submit your packet request. The course packets will be placed next to the traditional textbooks on our sales floor. The cost of the packets is determined by the costs of production, royalties set by copyright holders, and a gross margin to cover services. Since this service is part of the KSU bookstore, all revenue stays with the University to support student services, facilities and programming.

Copyright compliance is not optional; it is mandatory. Infringement jeopardizes not only you but the integrity of the institution. It is also important because people need to be compensated for their work. The Copyright Act of 1976 provides that copyright begins at the moment the work is created. Registration with the Copyright Office is not required in order for a work to be protected under U.S. copyright law. The absence of copyright notice does not mean that a work is not copyrighted- this is especially important with the use of materials downloaded from the internet. Similarly, the fact that the author is deceased or the book is out of print does not mean the work may be copied. Fair use does not apply to copied material, which is sold or distributed to students. If your packet contains borrowed material, we must ask the copyright holders for permission to photocopy. If you are uncertain if your selection is copyrighted, please include your bibliography of citations; we will check for you. Please review our Copyright FAQs section for more information.

Please Be Aware of the Following:

• Copyrights must be renewed each semester
• Material from a book in print is generally limited to a percentage set by the publisher
• Publishers charge royalties
• Although approximately 80% of permissions are cleared online through a centralized clearinghouse, and many are granted within 24-48 hours, response times from individual publishers vary and can take up to 6-8 weeks in some cases and can also be denied. If a request is denied, we will notify you immediately.

Most publishers charge royalties to reproduce their material. The average cost is approximately 18 cents per page, per copy, but can often be much higher. When a publisher charges a royalty over 30 cents per page, per copy, we will contact you. You can determine the importance of the material versus its cost. If you are concerned about the overall cost of the packet, an estimate can be provided to you upon request.

Desk Copies are provided, and there is no limit on the number of desk copies you may request; however, please be mindful that the costs of your desk copies are absorbed into the overall student copy price. Carefully consider the number of desk copies you will actually need. These fees may significantly increase the packet cost, especially in small class enrollments. Your desk copies will be delivered to your office or sent through campus mail. Be sure to indicate the desk copy quantity on the order form.