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Class Materials As Intellectual Property

I'm working on a research project with other librarians who work with nursing schools from across the United States.

Our research question involves the restrictiveness of requirements for articles used in student writing assignments, i.e. limiting to articles published in the past 5 years and one author must be a nurse.

Our data collection plan involves collecting syllabi and assignments for nursing school writing assignments to analyze for the criteria that articles must meet.

We would like to know before we begin, do syllabi and course assignments constitute intellectual property that is protected by copyright laws?

Thank you for your assistance with this!
Lawfulness of digitizing VHS commercial movies to DVD

We recently purchased equipment that is capable of converting VHS tapes to DVDs that will be used by staff and patrons. We were initially thinking of it being used for home movies, and such, but then a staff member raised the question about the legality of converting commercial (movies, TV shows) VHS tapes to DVDs. Are there copyrighting issues involved? If it's not legal to convert them, what language can we use in our literature to make sure they are aware that it is not allowed, and any penalty that they may incur if they do? (We won't be watching them when they use the equipment.)

Thank you very much for your response!
Patron Streaming Content and Library as a Contributory Infringer
According to Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, "A library can even be held as a contributory infringer simply for allowing patrons or guests to conduct unlicensed exhibitions on site. Innocuous activities, such as patrons streaming content from Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime on library computers, require a public performance license."
 
There is a lot of variations in how a patron may access these sites - on a public computer; on a personal device; on library wi-fi; on their personal device using a personal data plan... Is this referring to public library computers ONLY, or any patron device that is accessing their private streaming accounts in the public library? We have a lot of people that come in and use our wi-fi, and download episodes to watch at home. We've always treated public computers as a private space.
 
Does this mean that we have to block access to these sites or provide proactive messaging at each computer, and/or monitor their computer use?
 
Should messaging that addresses this issue be included in our wi-fi and/or computer use policy?
 
Is this something that if we provide computer screens or privacy walls we would reduce or eliminate our role as a contributory infringer?
 
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Using Streaming Services (Hulu, Netflix) in the Classroom

In a public school...What are the possible legal consequences of showing Netflix or other digital streaming services like HULU from a personal account in a classroom setting.

Can teachers legally stream Netflix services from their personal account in the classroom?

The "Educational Screenings of Documentaries" section of Netflix indicates to me that those documentaries listed are the only titles that would be allowed to be shown through a personal account and that all others are for personal use only, meaning that Fair Use would not apply.

I found a Lib Guide from the James E Tobin Library:(https://molloy.libguides.com/streaming/netflix) that explains how the personal license overrules copy right exemption. I understand what the page is saying in its entirety and like their explanation, but would appreciate having a legal perspective on this issue.

Thank you for any help you can provide!
Fair Use and Restrictions of Song Parodies

We are parodying words to a popular song to create a video celebrating our library's anniversary. The song is 50 years old. We will be using the music but changing the lyrics. We will be videoing staff members singing. Can we post this video to our library website? Can we use it in public settings? Are there any restrictions on use? Thank you.