In general, University faculty, students, and staff may use University information technology (which includes privately-owned computers connected to the University network) in connection with the University's core teaching, research, and service missions. Certain non-core uses that do not consume resources or interfere with other users also are acceptable. Under no circumstances may faculty, students, staff, or others use University information technology in ways that are illegal, that threaten the University's tax-exempt or other status, or that interfere with reasonable use by other members of the University community. Violations of information-technology rules and policies typically result in University disciplinary action, which may have serious consequences.
Web Publishers
Publishers must observe U.S. and international copyright laws and acceptable practices related to those laws, e.g. all copyright material must have prior permission of the copyright holder. Publishers may establish copyrights on digital materials only in accordance with University policies. Publishers must obtain explicit written permission to distribute any information requiring such permissions. Publishers must have a University affiliation. All information must have a clearly identifiable University "owner," an organization or individual who will be held accountable for that information, e.g. its timeliness, accuracy, and reliability, and adherence to national, local, and University policy guidelines. Publishers must be clearly and specifically identified, including specific names and other contact information for individuals responsible for a given set of electronic information. Publishers must provide current, accurate information, e.g., continually maintain content and revision dates.
Publishers should not provide confidential or sensitive information. Information on the University network is usually available for public access. Publishing of confidential or sensitive information is not allowed. Some facilities exist to restrict access to specific material to certain groups of users, but seldom to the degree possible with a private electronic mailing list. Whenever appropriate, publishers must arrange for reviews of materials by others who may be affected by its publication.
The University reserves the right to remove any information published through the campus network.
Copying from Other Internet Sites
It is NOT legal to copy material from other sites without permission, even if the material is being used on educational/not-for-profit sites. The Internet and the World Wide Web present tremendous opportunities for sharing information but it is important to remember that what is freely available most likely is NOT in the public domain. Most, if not all, works distributed electronically are protected by copyright. You should assume all works available on the computer networks and the WWW are copyrighted. This includes images, text, logos, software, sounds, movie clips, email and postings to newsgroups. Under copyright law, unless you have been given permission to use or copy a work for a particular purpose, you may NOT copy the work, even it is easy to do so. In many cases, there are permission statements included with the work and you may use the work for the purposes stated without any further permission or license.
Copyright Notices
A copyright notice must contain the word 'Copyright' or the symbol ©, the year in which the work was published, and the name of the copyright owner. The symbol (c) is often used on electronic works but it has not been accepted as a substitute for © or the word Copyright. The standard form for a copyright notice on works belonging to the University is:
Copyright © 2012
All Rights Reserved
Insert the year the work was first published as well as any subsequent years when a modified version is published. Publication is defined in the Copyright Act as the distribution or offer of distribution of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending. If the work has not been offered for sale or transfer, it is not published.
Since many keyboards cannot reproduce the © symbol, the symbol (c) may be used instead, although the latter symbol will not always be accepted as a substitute. Use of the symbol, ©, in combination with certain other requirements, allows copyright protection in some foreign countries. To ensure the enforceability of the copyright in the United States, the word, "Copyright" must always appear in the notice.
Copyright Background
The U.S. Constitution granted to Congress the power "to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." The copyright laws were enacted to govern the rights granted to authors to protect their writings and patent law was enacted to govern the rights granted to inventors to protect their discoveries. The work need not be novel or useful, only original. In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.
The term "copyright" actually refers to a bundle of rights that allow the originator of the work the exclusive right to:
- Make copies of the work
- Make derivative works
- Based on the original work distribute the work perform the work publicly
- Display the work in a commercial setting
In the case of visual works, the author also has the right to:
- Claim authorship of the work (attribution)
- Prevent others from attributing distorted works to original author (integrity)
Together, these rights give the copyright owner the exclusive ability to profit from their efforts.
Fair Use
Copyright law grants the exclusive right to use, copy, distribute, display and perform a copyrighted work to the owner of the copyright. The owner of the copyright is the only entity that may grant permission for anyone to use, copy, distribute, display and perform the work. Certain uses of copyrighted works do not require permission from the copyright owner and these uses are known as 'Fair Use.'
Libraries are given special exemptions under Fair Use, and your campus librarian can assist you in determining fair uses of library holdings.
It is important to remember that all text, software, audiovisual works, photographs, digital images and sounds are granted copyright protection as soon as they are created and all works created after 1978 are protected automatically. A work does not need to bear a copyright notice to be protected. Unless you know for a fact that the work is in the public domain, assume it is copyrighted and you must obtain permission to use the work.
You must seek permission from the copyright owner to use the work
For publications in books or journals, generally, the publisher is the owner of the copyrights and can grant permission for your use. If the publisher is not the copyright owner, they can probably direct you to the copyright owner.
Depending on the nature of the work, permission may be required from more than one source. For example, if you wish to use a photo from a magazine, the publisher may own the copyright on the photo but if the subject of the photo is a well known person, you may also need to obtain permission from the individual in the photo and the photographer. Obtaining permission to use a popular recording of a song may require permission from the composer, the lyricist and the performer. Film clips may require permission from the producer and the actors, as well as the owners of the rights in the music if music is a part of the film clip.
When seeking permission to use a copyrighted work, you must provide specific information on your intended use of the work. You should describe in detail what you want to use, how many copies you intend to make, how the work will be distributed, and for what fee, if any. You should also state whether or not the project is for educational or commercial use. Depending on your intended use, the owner may or may not grant you permission and they may or may not charge a fee to grant the permission. Fees may include a one time charge or a percentage of your profits (royalties.) It is also important to remember that you will only be granted permission for the use you specify. Different or additional uses in the future will require separate permission.
Certain uses of copyrighted works are not considered to infringe the rights of the copyright owner and are allowed under copyright law as Fair Use. From the text of the Copyright Act of 1976, as Amended, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
Fair Use is a common defense in copyright infringement lawsuits. It is important to understand that the law does not grant individuals the right to determine if they are making a fair use of a copyrighted work, rather, it provides guidelines for courts to make this decision on a case by case basis. Fair Use analysis is not simple and the outcome of a Fair Use defense is not predictable. It is unwise to assume that you are not infringing a copyright unless the specific use has been determined by case law to be non-infringing based on Fair Use, such as video taping television broadcasts for home use or copying a portion of a work to provided comment or criticism.
In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered include the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work
The Supreme Court has established the effect on the market value of the work to be the most important of these factors. It is important to understand that just because you may wish to use a work for educational purposes, it is not automatically a fair use of the work. For example, recent litigation has found that copying a work in its entirety rather than buying the book or journal is not a fair use, even if it is copied for educational purposes. In another case, it was found to be infringing to copy and distribute copies of journal articles for many people in an organization when only one copy of the journal was purchased.
Acceptable Use
It is acceptable to use the NSU Web for purposes relating directly to education or research.
Unacceptable Use
It is not acceptable to use the NSU Web for any illegal purposes.
It is not acceptable to use the NSU Web in such a way as to interfere with or disrupt network users, services, or equipment. For example, it would not be acceptable to use the NSU website to:
- Distribute unsolicited advertising;
- Intentionally transmit or receive threatening, obscene, or harassing materials;
- Propagate computer worms or viruses;
- Make unauthorized entry to computational, information, or communications devices or resources.
Modifications to this Policy
NSU reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.