Suffolk University has entered into an agreement with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), a not-for-profit organization which helps universities and corporations reuse copyrighted content, for coverage under its new Annual Copyright License (ACL) for Academic Institutions. This license provides faculty, librarians, research and administrative staff with comprehensive, institution-wide coverage for the reuse of text-based content in both print and electronic formats for educational and research purposes. There are over a million titles included in the license repertory and this list continues to grow. 

Types of use covered under the license include: 
- Coursepacks (print and electronic) 
- Classroom handouts 
- Library reserves (print and electronic) 
- Administrative photocopying 
- Course management system postings 
- Research collaboration 
- Intranet and faculty website postings 
- Internal e-mail

Types of use not covered under the license include:
- Interlibrary loan (ILL) 
- Non-educational uses (e.g. promotional and advertising)
- The reproduction of the entire work unless specifically noted by the rightsholder
- Creation of a repository or database of copyrighted works that substitutes the need to purchase a subscription

To protect the University and yourself, it is important that you participate in this process for any reading being copied and provided to your students.

This is a one year pilot test of the license through June 2009.  It is not guaranteed that this license will continue past June 30, 2009.  One objective of this pilot is to track cost savings realized by students for copyrighted materials in course packets. 

How to Use the License

If you have determined that the use of a particular piece of content is not covered under Fair Use, you can quickly and easily check to see if the content is covered under the Annual Copyright License. To verify if a publication is in the license repertory, simply go to http://www.copyright.com/ and click on the "Academic Licensees: Verify Coverage" link in the Quick Links column (see the red box in the image below). 

You will be directed to the ACL Web Interface at copyright.com which appears below.  You can search by either Publication Title or ISBN/ISSN and/or Publisher. In the example below, this faculty member entered the Journal of Business Ethics. Once you have entered the publication title, click Search (red arrow).  Note: When searching by title be sure to enter the Publication Title, not the title of the article or chapter.

The Search Results below show that this publication is Covered by CCC Annual License – Academic.  You will note in the red box that the green check mark indicates that this publication is covered by the Academic License.  Please note that "Terms Apply" (green underline) and must be reviewed to determine the limitations imposed by the publisher and/or author for use under this license.

From this point no further action is necessary. You are free to use the content in your course materials and do not need to check this title again for the duration of Suffolk University’s license agreement with CCC.

A word about using database PURL (persistent URL) links (on Blackboard or in an email, etc.) as a means of providing readings to students:  a stable article link from one of the library databases, like Business Source Complete or Academic Search Complete, is generally already covered for copyright by the library’s lease agreement with that database and the database’s contract with the publisher of the original material.  Except in those few instances when a special note is included at the end of the database article indicating that separate arrangements must be made, these articles are already copyright-compliant and can be linked to your syllabus without additional ACL consultation.

In the event the Search Results indicate that a publication is not covered under the license, there are other ways to obtain copyright permissions. Contact the manager of the Suffolk University Bookstore by phone at 617-573-8218, or e-mail at ssnow@suffolk.com.

A pdf of this information is available for printing.