Copyright and Software License Infringement Policy

First Institute Inc. complies with all copyright laws, and strictly prohibits the illegal copying of copyrighted texts, publications, documents; works of art, music, peer-to-peer file sharing and computer software.

Federal copyright law allows a specific amount of text copying for educational purposes, and so instructors may use portions of texts for overhead transparencies to support lectures, or as handouts to illustrate certain knowledge or skills. An entire text or work, however, may not be copied without the written approval of the publisher.

Teachers and students consistently look for interesting and relevant material to use in class instruction and completing assignments. While supplementing the core textbooks with other materials is useful, the following guidelines must be observed when using copyrighted materials:

Teachers and students are allowed to make single copies of the following for their own use in research or classroom preparation:

• A chapter from a book

• An article from a periodical or newspaper

• A short story, essay or short poem

• A chart, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture

Teachers and students are permitted to make multiple copies of some copyrighted material for use in the classroom. However, the material copied for use in the classroom must not exceed one copy per student and must meet the tests of brevity, spontaneity and cumulative effect.

Brevity refers to the amount of material copied:

• A complete poem if it is less than 250 words in total length

• An excerpt from a longer poem not to exceed 250 words

• A complete article, story, or essay of less than 2,500 words

• An excerpt from a written work not to exceed 1,000 words or 10 percent of the total work

• One chart, diagram, cartoon, or picture per book or periodical

Spontaneity refers to a situation where there is insufficient time to obtain permission if maximum instructional effectiveness of the material is to be achieved.

Cumulative effect refers to the total use and impact of the copied material, meaning the material must be for only one course in the school. No more than one poem, article or story from the author may be copied, and no more than three from the same collective work or periodical. In addition, there should be no more than nine instances of multiple copying for any one class during the term.

Students and teachers will not make unauthorized copies of copyrighted material on or using the school’s computer systems, networks or storage media. Users will not store unauthorized copies of copyrighted works using the school’s systems, networks and/or storage media. Teachers and students should not download, upload, transmit, make available or otherwise distribute copyrighted material without authorization using the school’s computer systems, networks, and Internet access or storage media.

First Institute Inc. reserves the right to monitor its computer systems, networks and storage media for compliance with this policy, at any time without notice and with or without cause. Additionally, the school reserves the right to delete from its computer systems and storage media, or restrict access to, any seemingly unauthorized copies of copyrighted materials found at any time and without notice.

Staff and students who violate this policy are subject to disciplinary action as appropriate under the circumstances. Such disciplinary action may include suspension, termination, expulsion and other legal actions of a civil or criminal nature.