Copyright

[luvmyworld]

Hello.

I really appreciate the Stickies here as they are such wealth of knowledge. My question is can I print an article/or articles from these websites to send to my patients for educ purposes?.If I do this ,am i going against the copyright law?

thanks.

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

Hi there and thankyou for asking the question. I myself didn't know so have asked the other staff on the site.

sirI has provided an excellent answer, a huge thanks sirI

Under U.S. copyright law regarding Reproduction, individuals cannot copy/reproduce the work by the author. They can either purchase (or in this case, download=lending) a book/article, but cannot reproduce it other than for self.

It is not necessary that the entire original work to be copied for an infringement of the reproduction right to occur. All that is necessary is that the copying be "substantial and material."

Now.... there is what is called, Distribution Rights, which grants to the copyright holder the exclusive right to make a work available by sale, rental, lease, or lending. This right allows the copyright holder to prevent the distribution of unauthorized copies of a work. The copyright holder has control over the first distribution of a particular authorized copy. But, the right is limited and the copyright owner has no control over what happens to a copy of the original document and therefore, how it is distributed.

So, in saying all of this, one must be certain that at least these two (of MANY) copyright rights are adhered to when dealing with any reproduction/distribution.

In other words, I would be hard-pressed using the article for any reproduction and/or distribution for patient education at work unless I had permission(s) to do so.

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/

Here's a link to the U.S. copyright faq section, if you need any more info.