CC Licensing/Copyright issues

[vlshort]

Greetings,

 

I need some info, from those of you much smarter than me in this area!

 

I have organized a co-op for next year. We have chosen a variety of courses for all grade levels. We are doing some IEW classes, apologia astronomy, art and music, critical thinking, public speaking, and finance. The vision for the co-op is to support families that are classically homeschooling. All parents help with teaching, and there are no fees involved - this is a co-op.

 

We are interested in using the Foundations curriculum guide. The copyright says that you can copy pages for your own family use, but if you are using it in a group setting that all families must have their own materials. Additionally, it says if you are charging fees you must have a license.

 

Our group would like to do the memory work from the Foundations guide. We are not charging fees. My plan was to have each family purchase flash cards or CD's to do the memory work at home, and we would do review in class based on that teacher having the guide. There would be no copying of pages from anything.

 

Am I operating within legal limits? Am I breaking any rules?

 

I am attending a CC practicum this week, and I was confronted by CC leadership and told that I can't do this, that I have to have a license. I was told that I can't purchase materials and use them in a group setting without a license. I'm very confused. CC has materials that you can't buy without being enrolled in their program (like the Essentials guide), then they have a variety of materials you can buy without being enrolled. It would be my understanding that if you purchase materials, you can use them with as many people as you like, as long as you don't copy, or charge fees, or represent yourself as being CC sponsored.

 

I would appreciate any light that anyone can shed on this.

 

Thanks.

[Corraleno]

The copyright says that you can copy pages for your own family use, but if you are using it in a group setting that all families must have their own materials. Additionally, it says if you are charging fees you must have a license.

 

Our group would like to do the memory work from the Foundations guide. We are not charging fees. My plan was to have each family purchase flash cards or CD's to do the memory work at home, and we would do review in class based on that teacher having the guide. There would be no copying of pages from anything.

 

Am I operating within legal limits? Am I breaking any rules?

 

 

From what you have written, you would be within legal limits. Since the publisher has specifically stated that you need a license if you charge fees, and you are not charging fees, then you do not need a license. And if you are not copying pages, you are not violating their copyright. If you buy a book, you can read it to as many people as you like, you can loan it out, you can pass it around the class, you can sell it, you can do whatever you want with it, EXCEPT make unauthorized copies. Copyright law gives the publisher the right to control the making of copies of their work; it does NOT give them the right to determine what happens to the book after they sell it. Legally, this is called the First Sale Doctrine.

 

Now, if the materials you are talking about are "licensed" or "leased" rather than being sold, and you sign a licensing agreement when you purchase the license, then the publisher has more control over the materials and can specify the terms of the "lease" however they like. (This has sometimes been successfully challenged in court, but I won't get into that.) But if you're buying a book and you don't sign (or click on) any licensing agreement, then you can do what you want as long as you don't make copies.

 

Publishers frequently claim or suggest that they have more rights than they really do; they just hope the buyer doesn't know anything about copyright law.

 

Jackie

Edited July 28, 2009 by Corraleno

[vlshort]

Jackie,

 

You have been extremely helpful! You gave me some terms to do my own google searching, and I came up with some facts to print off! Interesting, I also came across an exemption - teachers who are in a face-to-face teaching situation can display or perform (whatever that means) without permission from the owner. They just can't copy it. That means I can, in fact, purchase one text, and teach it to the class, without everyone requiring their own book.

 

This has been very enlightening for me, and very freeing! It's amazing what some publishers are trying to present as legal limitations on their customers.

 

Thank you again!

And I also welcome any other comments, info!