Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Minnesota

Hello,

I am an instructor at a university, and am in the process of creating a new class. The course material will be handouts for the students. Some pages I made myself, some were made with the director of the tutoring center at UW River Falls (we have permission to use these items from her), some are from my college class I took at UMD (I have permission from this instructor), some are from websites (I have permission from the author's of the page), and a few are from textbooks. My main questions are:

1. If I have permission from my old UMD instructor to use items from her manual, and she used things from other sources, am I legitimately able to still use these items? I have cited both the original source and the UMD tutoring manual.

2. The material from the textbooks are not photocopied. The only things I am using are lists of items. For example, one chapter of the book discusses in depth 12 steps to tutoring. All I have typed up are just those 12 steps in a document. There are about 2 other pages similar to this where I only list the items. Would you suggest I request permission for this, or is this considered fair use?

I want to make sure I am being compliant on copyright laws, and I would appreciate any advice or opinions you can give me.

Thank you!


Asked on 1/12/11, 9:27 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ross Brandborg Brudvik Law Office

Question 1) If your UMD instructor had a license to use copyrighted material, that license likely does not allow for you to reuse the material. If the information (copyright) belonged your instructor and she gave you permission then you can use her copyright.

Question 2) Lists of information do not hold a copyright. The copyright vests in the actually written work of the author... i.e. you can not photocopy copyrighted material without permission. However if you are creating a work product yourself (class material) based on others work, then you simply must cite the origin.

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Answered on 1/25/11, 9:58 pm


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