Copyright Issues

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Copyright laws are fairly clear about copying published works in which you provide the copies to others particularly for your financial gain or deprivation of the income to the publisher. The bottom line: don’t do it. There are exceptions of course and education is one of them. There is also the “doctrine of fair use” which is a bit muddy but here it is for you to figure out for yourself.

107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

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 shall include — (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. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

Here is one interpretation. http://www.copyright.com/Services/CorporateGuide/PDFs/101_fair.pdf

You can read the Copyright Law from here: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#110