The United States is a member of the Universal
Copyright Convention (UCC). Generally, a work by a
national or resident of a country that is a member of the
UCC, or a work first published in a UCC country, may
claim protection under the UCC.
Works of the United States Government
Works produced for the U. S. Government by its
officers and employees as part of their official duties are
not subject to U.S. copyright protection. The law makes
it clear that this prohibition applies to unpublished
works as well as published ones.
Fair Use
U.S. copyright laws specifically recognizes the
principle of “fair use” as a limitation on the exclusive
rights of copyright owners. The law considers factors in
determining whether particular uses fall within this
category. Listed below are the minimum standards of
educational fair use of copyrighted works under the law.
The guidelines are not intended to limit the types of
copying permitted under the standards of fair use.
I. SINGLE COPYING FOR TEACHERS:
A single copy may be made of any of the following
by or for a teacher at his or her individual request for his
or her scholarly research or use in teaching or
preparation to teach a class:
A. A chapter from a book
B. An article from a periodical or newspaper
C. A short story, short essay, or short poem whether
or not it is from a collective work
D. A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or
picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.
II. MULTIPLE COPIES FOR CLASSROOM USE:
Multiple copies (not to exceed in any event more
than one copy per pupil in a course) may be made by or
for the teacher giving the course for classroom use or
discussion provided that:
A. The copying meets the test of brevity and
spontaneity as defined below; and,
B. Meets the cumulative effect test as defined
below; and,
C. Each copy includes a notice of copyright.
III. PROHIBITIONS AS TO I AND II ABOVE:
Notwithstanding any of the above, the following
shall be prohibited:
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
of teaching. These include workbooks, exercises,
standardized tests, and test booklets and answer sheets
and like consumable material.
C. Copying shall not:
1. substitute for the purchase of books,
publisher’s reprints, or periodicals;
2. be directed by higher authority; and
3. 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.
Each Navy photo lab should have a copy of
SECNAVINST 5870.5, Permission to use Copyrighted
Materials in the Department of the Navy. All
Photographer’s Mates should be familiar with its
general content. It should be the basic instruction you
should use when the question of copyright comes up.
Here are a few excerpts from the instruction:
“As a general proposition, copyrighted works
may not be used without permission of the
copyright owner. Unauthorized use is a copy-
right infringement, . . the U.S. Government has
no general exemption from copyright infringe-
ment liability. Government employees are not,
however, personally liable for copyright
infringement occurring in the performance of
their official duties.”
“. . . it is a criminal offense to remove or alter
any notice of copyright appearing on a . . .
copyrighted work, . . .”
COPY RESTRICTIONS
Federal laws regulating photography are intended
to prevent counterfeiting and fraud and are located
generally in Title 18 of the United States Code.
Designated government officials are charged with
safeguarding the nation’s currency. It is the belief of the
United States Secret Service that granting permission to
photograph and reproduce pictures of money, in color,
8-4
