Overview
Companies thrive on the exchange of information, from research and industry news to workforce trends and legislative reform. But in the daily rush to get things done, even well intentioned employees may unknowingly share copyrighted material without permission to do so, exposing your organization to not only the risk of copyright infringement but also financial and reputational damage. There are practical solutions that can help your organization support collaboration through responsible content sharing among employees.
Content Use in the Workplace
Business professionals share published information an average of 34 times per week, and 40% of the content they share comes from outside sources, according to the 2013 Information Consumption and Use Study conducted by research and advisory firm Outsell, Inc.
Here are some common ways employees share copyrighted print and digital materials:
- Email articles to co-workers, clients and business partners;
- Post third-party content on your corporate intranet site;
- Photocopy material to distribute in meetings;
- Store third-party content on your network;
- Post material on collaboration applications such as Microsoft SharePoint®;
- Submit copies of articles to government agencies for regulatory filings;
- Use third-party content in company presentations; and
- Scan printed works into digital form.
An important step in tackling copyright compliance in your organization is to identify areas where your colleagues share content on a regular basis. Do your employees also produce intellectual property? If so, evaluate how your organization protects this content.
Build Awareness Of Your Copyright Policy
Copyright protection exists to encourage the development of new and creative works that spur innovation and can ultimately help drive your business. Failure to respect copyright infringes on the legal rights of the copyright holder, and could put you and your organization at risk. Yet, according to Outsell, more than half of survey respondents (56%) either don't have a copyright policy, don't know if they do or don't know what's in it.
Educating employees about the basic elements of copyright law and its relevance in day-to-day business practices is critical to every organization. And there are a number of actions you can easily implement to raise employee awareness.
- Establish guidelines for the use of copyrighted materials (both print and digital), provide an overview of fair use* and how and when employees should obtain copyright permission. Offer guidance as to the types of content uses your licenses allow and types of uses that are not covered. Once you've finalized a policy, the next step is to inform employees about it.
- Establish an owner of the policy and process for obtaining permission (general counsel, compliance officer).
- Share those guidelines companywide through periodic communications with staff through email, your company intranet, newsletter and meetings. Get new employees up to speed right away by incorporating your policy into new employee welcome kits, staff manuals and other reference materials.
- Offer educational programs (brown bag sessions, webinars) to employees periodically throughout the year on the basics of copyright and how to minimize infringement risk.
- Take advantage of expert resources (e.g., OnCopyright Education from Copyright Clearance Center).
- Establish a Corporate Compliance hotline to allow employees to report issues and concerns.
*Fair use is not an exception to copyright law. Rather, it is a defense that may be raised by the defendant in an infringement case. Fair use recognizes that certain types of use of other people's copyright-protected works do not require the copyright holder's authorization. Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act lists four factors to help judges determine, and therefore to help you predict, when content use may be considered fair use. For more information, visit copyright.com/education.
Need help in developing your copyright policy? See Guidelines for Creating a Copyright Policy in the Additional Resources section below.
REVIEW THE TERMS OF CONTENT SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENTS
Your information managers can be extremely helpful in informing colleagues about how they can use and share content based on the terms of subscription agreements negotiated with rights holders.
Subscriptions vary widely in terms of the permissions they offer for content uses, from how material may or may not be modified to the limits on who employees can share published information. Some publisher agreements include attendant rights, such as the right to save, store, print and copy content; others include only some of those rights. Some limit content sharing within and outside of your organization. Advise colleagues on an approved process for confirming subscription rights before sending content outside your company.
OBTAIN "NEGATIVE LIST" PERMISSION WHERE CONTENT SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENTS END
In general, when using the work of others you must first determine if copyright permission is required. If the work is copyright-protected, and the proposed use does not meet the criteria for fair use, you will likely need to obtain permission from the copyright holder or its agent in order to use and share the work. Examples of uses that may require permission include: emailing a journal article; posting content on an Internet or intranet site; photocopying a newspaper article; showing scenes from movies or television shows in sales meetings and employee training and development programs; inserting images into a presentation; and excerpting content from e-books and blogs.
Whether you contact the publisher or individual content creator directly to obtain copyright permission or work with a collective management organization (CMO) such as CCC, it is best to obtain a license to make sure you are using that content appropriately. There are a variety of licenses available to help you quickly and easily gain permission to share content. Licenses can cover one-time use, such as posting to an external website, or a variety of internal uses through a repertory or blanket license model. Explore the benefits of a license that collects a wide range of rights for you from many different publishers, enabling your employees, regardless of location, to responsibly share the copyrighted materials they need.
About Copyright Clearance Center (ccc)
Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), the rights licensing expert, is a global rights broker for the world's most sought-after books, journals, blogs, movies and more. Founded in 1978 as a not-for-profit organization, CCC provides smart solutions that simplify the access and licensing of content. These solutions let businesses and academic institutions quickly get permission to share copyright-protected materials, while compensating publishers and creators for the use of their works. We make copyright work. For more information, visit www.copyright.com.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
