For Instructors

Employees and students shall not reproduce copyrighted materials without prior permission of the copyright owner, except as allowed by copyright law. Copyright law exceptions include, but are not limited to, the “fair use” doctrine, the TEACH Act, materials in the public domain, and exceptions for libraries. "Prior permission of the copyright owner" includes open licenses, such as a Creative Commons license.

College of the Siskiyous AP 3750 (PDF) further outlines our institutional copyright policy and procedure for both on-campus and online courses:

Reference: The TEACH (Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization) Act, USC 17, Copyright Act, Sections 110(2) and 112

Related campus policies include:

The Teach Act

The Teach Act provides instructors greater flexibility to use third party copyrighted works in online courses. An individual assessment will be required to determine whether a given use is protected under the Act. The following criteria are generally required:

The online instruction is mediated by an instructor.
The transmission of the material is limited to receipt by students enrolled in the course.
Use of material must be directly related to the content of the course.
Technical safeguards are used to prevent retention of the transmission for longer than the class session.
The performance is either of a non-dramatic work or a “reasonable and limited portion” of any other work that is comparable to that displayed in a live classroom session.
The work is not a textbook, course pack, or other material typically purchased or acquired by students for their independent use and retention, including commercial works that are sold or licensed for the purposes of digital distance education.
The district does not know, or have reason to know, that the copy of the work was not lawfully made or acquired.
The district notifies students that the works may be subject to copyright protection and that they may not violate the legal rights of the copyright holder.

The COS Library also maintains a collection of copyright resources for faculty. Instructors can access these resources via the Services to Faculty site.