The Copyright Act of 1987 came into force on April 10, 1987.
Copyright is a legal right to stop unauthorised copying of a
wide range of different types of materials including literary, dramatic,
musical, artistic works, sound recordings (records, compact discs, tapes, etc),
films, broadcast programmes, cable programmes and published editions of works.
Copyright can be infringed in numerous ways, including photocopying, public performance, translation and publication. Even copying small amounts of a work could constitute infringement.
Copyright then can be broadly described as the right to stop
copying. This clearly affects the
position of an educational institutions and the students in general. The 1987 Act however does have a number of
provisions which are designed to safeguard the position of educational
institutions and students.
Copying for Students
: By Lecturers/teaching departments, etc.
a) Under Section 51 of the 1987 Act, educational institutions can make multiple copies of small portions of literary and dramatic works and distribute these to their students for use in a course of education provided by the institution.
The amount which can be copied must not
be the whole of the work or exceed five pages of the work, unless 1% of the
total number of pages in the edition exceeds five pages and the total number of
pages copied does not exceed 5% of the total number of pages. It follows that if the work is contained in
an edition of 500 pages or less, then the five pages limit cannot be exceeded.
b) Apart from Section 51, a new complex license scheme is contained in Section 52 which allows and educational institution to make multiple copies of larger amounts of both books and articles for teaching purposes. The amount is broadly defined as no more than one article from one periodical unless the article relate to the same subject matter, and no more than 10% or one chapter, whichever is more, in the case of other separately published works.
The 10% or one chapter limit can only
be exceeded if copies of the work cannot be obtained within a reasonable time
at an ordinary commercial price.
Extremely detailed records must be kept for a period of four years from the date of the copying. It is imperative therefore that the “Request To Print Materials” form Appendix 2 be duly completed with each request.
Copying under this licence scheme is,
however, not free of charge. The
copyright owner has a right to an equitable remuneration for the amount taken.
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Copying of students : The fair dealing rules (Copyright Act
1987 Section 35)
Students copying private study or research are protected
from copyright infringement if they copy the material themselves.
The amount of material that can be copied, however, is
limited as follows:-
(a)
Published
Books
Not more than one chapter or 10% of the
total number of pages of the book (whichever is more) and not more than one
copy may be photocopied.
(b)
Periodical
Articles
Not more than one copy of one article
form a periodical may be photocopied.
Two or more articles from the same issue can be reproduced only if they
are related to the same subject matter.
Copying by the library : At the request of a user
(Copyright Act 1987 Section 45)
A library officer can make a copy of educational and related
materials at the request of a student for his research or private study so long
as the copy is given to the requesting student.
The above ruling for “Publish Books” and “Periodicals” will
apply. In addition, for published books,
the 10% or one chapter requirement can only be exceeded if the work is part of
the library’s private collection.
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