CBC is committed to the observance of copyright to the letter and spirit of the copyright laws. This page contains some general info, checklists and links to CBC policy and copyright information.
At its essence, it is important to understand that every creative work has an inherent copyright that gives the creator rights to specify how that work can be used by others. Consumers of creative works also have rights for use of those works.
In a non-profit, college setting, such as CBC, those rights are somewhat different than in the general marketplace, however the basic principles of ownership and user rights are a common theme.
For Students
It is important for students to know that materials that they receive in class are copyrighted. Usually, this means they have the right to use the materials for that class, but do not have the right to redistribute or use them for other uses, beyond those allowed by fair use principles. In terms of students using copyrighted materials in their class assignments, fair use may apply, however additional rules apply in terms of properly citing others' work, as well as rules against plagiarism, which are not copyright rules.
For Faculty
Non-profit educational institutions have a fair amount of latitude in using copyrighted creative works for classroom use. Different standards do apply for face-to-face (F2F) instruction and online modes of delivery. It is vitally important that instructors evaluate their use of copyrighted materials in their classrooms. If you are using copyrighted materials without consideration of the law, you are putting the institution and yourself at risk of legal action and potentially devastating monetary awards.
In some areas, copyright law is vague about what exactly is infringement, and what exactly is fair use. This ambiguity is both good and bad. It means that you have the latitude to use materials as long as you have, in good faith, evaluated the use according to the law and the guidelines, but it also means that a content creator may disagree and sue you. Your defense, however will hinge on your prior evaluation of the materials. If you can show that you evaluated the materials, and that it can be demonstrated that they satisfied the law, as you understood it, this is a powerful defense. Ignorance is no defense.
Contacts
Since evalutating use of copyrighted materials in instruction can be challenging, we have two primary contacts for questions:
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in 1998 in response to the growing piracy of digitally-transported copyright materials such as music and movies. A summary of the DMCA can be found at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf. Federal penalties for infringing copyright, even for first time offenders, can be severe and include large fines. Columbia Basin College will respond to allegations of copyright violations in accordance with the DMCA, which provides a process for a copyright owner to give notification concerning an alleged copyright infringement. When a valid DMCA notification is received, the alleged copyright infringement will be evaluated.
Notification of Claimed Infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
If any owners of copyrights believe CBC's users are infringing copyright protected work, they may send a notice to CBC's designated agent at:
Brian Dexter, Information Services Director
Columbia Basin College
2600 N. 20th Avenue – Mailstop T3
Pasco, WA 99301
Telephone: (509) 542-4727 Fax: (509) 544-2029 E-mail: bdexter@columbiabasin.edu
Please note: Notification of claimed infringement must contain the information required by and otherwise comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title II, Section 512(c).
* We consider CBC to be TEACH Act compliant. Being TEACH Act compliant, gives online classrooms many of the rights to use of copyrighted material that F2F classrooms enjoy, as long as TEACH Act requirements are met.
Free viewers are required for some of the attached documents. They can be downloaded by clicking on the icons below.
For questions or comments about this page, please contact
Jerry Lewis, Director of eLearning & Web Services, 509-545-0511, ext. 2465, Direct phone: 509-542-4465
