An academic coursepack is a collection of materials (usually photocopied) assembled by a course instructor and sold to students. Since a federal court ruling in 1991 (Basic Books Inc. v. Kinko's Graphics Corp. 21 U.S.P.Q.2.D (BNA) 1639), it has been law that the reproduction of copyrighted materials in academic coursepacks is not protected by the doctrine of fair use (see 17 USCS §107) and that written permission is required for all copyrighted material used.
The following requirements must be followed when assembling and selling academic coursepacks to students:
Excerpt from Circular 21, U.S. Copyright Office http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ21.pdf
A. Copying shall not be used to create or to replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations, or collective works. Such replacement or substitution may occur whether copies of various works or excerpts therefrom are accumulated or are reproduced and used separately.
B. There shall be no copying of or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or teaching. These include workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and test booklets and answer sheets and like consumable material.
C. Copying shall not:
i. substitute for the purchase of books, publisher's reprints or periodicals
ii. be directed by higher authority
iii. be repeated with respect to the same item by the same teacher from term to term.
D. No charge shall be made to the student beyond the actual cost of the photocopying
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