Cornell University announce new copyright guidelines governing use of digital course materials

These guidelines -- developed by Cornell University in conjunction with the Association of American Publishers (AAP) -- likely do not answer everyone's questions about the use of digital course materials, but should help the discussions that occur on this topic.

By the way, one of the statements, that stood out to me, is:

Instructors should not direct or encourage students to print unauthorized copies of course content. Students seeking information about how to make or acquire personal copies for purposes of private study, scholarship, or research should be directed to consult available resources.

I'm sure that instructors saw this as a way of getting around the law. Here Cornell is saying that the practice in their eyes in unacceptable. I wish, though, that Cornell's Copyright Information Center said more on what specific resources students should use to obtain legal copies. There should be a link that says something like "Need a legal copy of course materials?" as well as information on the consequences of obtaining illegal copies. This is an opportunity to educate there constituents even more and hope they jump on the opportunity.

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