UMA Faculty Copyright Guidelines


To share digital video resources that are protected by copyright with students enrolled in your courses, faculty members should first search video databases to which the University and/or the University System have licenses: https://umalibguides.uma.edu/videos.

If you find the video you want in one of these databases, follow the instructions to copy and paste the permanent link into your course site, e.g. Brightspace.

If you do not find the resource you want there, proceed as follows:

  • Get a legally obtained University-owned or faculty owned copy of the video (e.g. from the library, purchased by you or your department, etc.). The University of Maine at Augusta may only copy and share with students digital video resources that were lawfully acquired.
  • Faculty are not allowed to copy and share digital video resources created and distributed specifically for educational purposes, such as commercial instructional videos on how to improve one’s writing. This also covers most everything created and distributed with textbooks or related resources.
  • Non-education-focused, lawfully obtained videos may only be shared if they are an integral part of a course. They must only be shared during the time period in which the course is offered and, within that, during the period of the semester in which they are assigned. The amount of the video that is shared should also be limited to that portion of the video that is necessary for the specific purpose of sharing the video, whenever possible.
  • Many faculty may find using Brightspace and Kaltura the simplest approach to sharing videos.  All Brightspace course shells should include the required copyright statement (below) and limit access to students enrolled in the course during the period in which they are enrolled. Kaltura disseminates the video in a way that meets the requirements of copyright law.

In short, faculty need the following:

  1. Statement about the University’s copyright policy associated with the video
  2. Access controls which limit viewing to students enrolled in the course 
  3. Video streamed rather than downloaded 
  4. Made available by or for an Instructor
  5. The video is an integral part of a course
  6. The video was not created for the education market
  7. The video was made from a lawfully obtained copy--e.g. legally made and purchased.
  8. The video is limited to the smallest portion of the whole copyrighted work as necessary to meet the purpose of providing it, whenever possible.

These procedures apply to blended/hybrid, flipped, and online course offerings.  If you are a faculty member and need help creating a digital copy for loading into Kaltura, bring or send the lawfully acquired copy to Katz or Nottage Libraries for posting to Kaltura.

Copyright Statement to Include in Brightspace Course Shells:

Please read the following regarding e-reserve documents:

WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproduction of copyrighted material.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research. If electronic transmission of reserve material is used for purposes in excess of what constitutes "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.