Copyright at Messiah University

Copyright is a property right given to content creators that allows them to control, protect, and exploit their creatiive works.

Copyright owners have the exclusive rights to do the following things, though they can grant or sell those rights to others:

• Reproduce all or part of the work
• Prepare new (derivative) versions based on the original work
• Distribute copies
• Perform the work publicly
• Display the work publicly
• Digital Audio Transmission

Copyright protection covers both published and unpublished works. The fact that a previously published work is out-of-print does not affect its copyright. Learn more by reviewing Copyright Basics (from U.S. Copyright Office).

Copyright compliance matters because:

It's Ethical: Respecting the rights of copyright holders is simply the right thing to do. If copies are made without permission, publishers and authors, including educators, are deprived of revenues in the very markets for which they have written or published. 

It's the Law: As stated in the Copyright Act, it is unlawful to infringe on the rights of copyright holders. Copyright holders can sue offenders for damages or to recoup lost profits as a result of infringement. As compliance and the protection of intellectual property continue to make headlines, copyright holders and law enforcement are monitoring and paying closer attention.

It’s risky to violate copyright laws. You as an individual may be held liable for violating copyright laws, so it’s always best to err on the side of getting permission to use copyrighted materials and not assume the materials you wish to use fall under “fair use.”

First, start with Murray Library.

• Contact your liaison librarian to determine if any of the readings you wish to require are available digitally in the library’s collection or whether the library can purchase them for student access.
• Linking library resources in your Canvas course allows students to access readings at no cost to them because library materials - ebooks, journal articles, streaming film, etc. - are licensed for use by all students, faculty, and staff at Messiah at no cost to them.
• You can provide students with links to library material with confidence that they have full, legal access.

Then work with the Campus Store.

• If resources aren’t available through the library, submit a custom adoption for your coursepack in Slingshot Pro, our Campus Store’s online adoption tool.
• A Campus Store agent will contact you with further instructions. 
• Coursepack adoptions must be submitted at the time of traditional course material adoptions and well in advance of the beginning of the semester or term in which they will be used.
• If you have any questions about the process, send them to campusstore@messiah.edu.

Generally speaking, you cannot upload copyrighted materials into your Canvas course, because there’s no good mechanism for Messiah University to pay for that use (i.e., most programs and departments don’t have funding to pay permission fees for copyrighted materials).

There are, however, a few exceptions to that general rule. 

• Murray Library owns the right to the material
  • If so, add a direct link to the item in Canvas from the library's catalog or databases. Contact a liaison librarian if you have any questions about using library resources.
• The material you wish to use qualifies under fair use
  • The Fair Use Evaluation Tool can help you determine what materials qualify under fair use. Use it to provide a record that you considered relevant issues if a question about your use ever arises.
• The material's use is allowed under a Creative Commons license
• The material is in the public domain
• If the item is legally posted online and freely available, you may link to that item in Canvas.

If you wish to give your students access to copyrighted materials, but the University doesn't already own the right to them, they don’t qualify under fair use, and/or they’re not exempt from copyright clearance, you should assemble a coursepack that students purchase through the Campus Store or place the items on course reserve at the library.

Educators may place copyrighted materials on library course reserve for a 2-hour or 24-hour checkout period. The library’s course reserves website provides additional information.

Within a physical classroom, you may show a legally acquired DVD or VHS in a face-to-face setting without additional rights as long as the film is directly related to course content. 

For online viewing and linking via Canvas, Murray Library offers information about using streaming video resources from the library in your courses. You may also link directly to a publicly accessible online video or embed an online video in your Canvas course as long as that video is a legal source.

Most streaming services such as AppleTV+, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix only allow personal use and do not make their original content available to libraries to purchase. However, some Netflix documentaries are available for one-time educational streaming. You may not livestream a video via a videoconferencing platform to your students. If you have questions about streaming video for your course, contact your liaison librarian. 

Yes. Non-print materials such as photos, artwork, music, theatre productions and more may have format-specific copyright guidelines.

Contact your liaison librarian, who can help you think through possible resources. If you have more specific questions about copyright clearance, please contact Janet Vogel, Director of Murray Library or Dwayne Magee, Director of Messiah Press. If you have questions about the Campus Store and coursepacks, contact campusstore@messiah.edu.

The Copyright FAQs page and the Copyright Guidelines by Format page may also provide additional information.