How to Post Copyrighted Materials with Scribd

By Michael McCurley

If you have a distance education program or company training area that needs to use copyrighted
materials, there is a way you can share it under fair use guidelines and copyright privileges without
opening that content to unlimited use by other people. You can do this if you do it correctly using Scribd.
First, if you have determined that the use is limited and know how, when, and how many people will be
using it, you may write to request permission to use it. Contrary to popular belief, if the use is reasonable
and limited, and it involves a non-profit, educational purpose, publishers will give you written (email)
permission to post it if you provide reasonable security to ensure that the materials will not be duplicated
by unauthorized people.

Some experience is necessary

The information on this page assumes that you have some experience using Scribd. This is
important if you plan to post written work that has been created by others. This also assumes that you will
probably be scanning and/or using a digital format of the material(s) you post.

Guidelines for using copyrighted materials

Here is what you should keep in mind.

1) Get permission first. Posting copyrighted material is illegal without permissoin.

2) Inform the publisher, how, when (for how long), and for how many you want to use the
material(s). Mention that it is for an educational, non-commercial purpose.
3) Post the material as a Private Page, Check the private instead of public option. Be careful
about accidentally posting material through readcasts or other formats. Post a title page of
the material you want to use first, then add an edited update to ensure that it stays private.
4) Post the material with copyright and publisher information (at the beginning of the
document) and indicate that it is being used by permision of the publisher.
5) Be sure the quality of the material you post matches or is similar to the quality of the
original publication.
6) Post the material in a read-only format. Think of it as lending the material to readers.
7) Disable the download option.
8) Disable the option to copy or duplicate the document.
9) Disable the print option.
10) Post the document only for as long as you need to use it, then remove it. You can
always post it another time later if you need to.

Using private pages

Private pages using Scribd are non-searchable pages that cannot be found with a search engine. In
effect, you can control access to those pages by the way you restrict the use of the URL How can you do
that? You can send email messages with the URL to selected users. Just use the copy and paste option to
embed the URL of your private document page into your email page. Try it. You’ll be pleasantly
surprised with the result. The person who receives your message can go directly to that document, simply
by clicking the embedded URL. Another option is to create a secure password protected page on your
web site, and then copy and paste to embed the URL for the selected document on that page. Users with
access to that page will click the heading where the URL has been embedded and will be redirected to the
private document page.
Internet security
Internet security is very important for protecting copyrighted materials, and it is essential that
publishers feel that their documents, book excerpts, and other publications are secure for use in an
Internet environment. This will provide everyone with the opportunities to read and share higher quality
materials by protecting individual and commercial rights to intellectual property. Contrary to what many
people think, pirating dilutes the quality of what people can share and may limit what people ultimately
have to offer. Protecting the intellectual rights of other writers will encourage them to continue
contributing as professionals. If there is no respect (or payment) at all for writers, the art and craft of
writing as a profession will be smothered in an innundation or plethora of words, which will have little or
no value. What you, I, and everyone else does may make an immense difference that will determine the
survival or the end of publishing as we know it. And while that industry will change greatly, along with
many others, we should keep in mind what publishing has done throughout the centuries for humanity.

You are a publisher if you post

Why am I saying all this? Every time you post a document on the Internet you are publishing it for
others to see. Although you have not necessarily done the typesetting, galley proofs, and other tasks that a
paper or print publisher might do, the process still involves a certain amount of care, editing and integrity.
As a publisher, you should protect your own work and the work of others, and you should treat whatever
you publish as if it were something you have written yourself.

You cannot charge for what you post

You may not charge anything for posting copyrighted materials using Scibd. All materials must be
made available to your users without charge, or sub-licensing, and except for your permission for use, all
copyright restrictions still apply. If you use copyrighted materials without permission using Scribd, you
will have vilotated your terms of agreement and are subject to the conditions that are described in that
document, which may include losing your service and being open to legal action or prosecution.

You can charge for other services

That being said, I would like to point out that if it is your hope to become a virtual internet tutor,
none of this means that you cannot charge for services of your own that you would provide as a tutor. Use
without charge for educational, non-commercial purposes does not mean that all educational services
must be provided for free. There is no stipulation that forbids a person from offering tutoring online and
being paid for that service. If a piano teacher comes to your house to give piano lessons, you naturally
will expect to pay for the service. Just keep in mind that you can’t charge for the written materials you
will be providing, except if they are materials you have written yourself.

I am starting my own internet tutoring option for a guided study program in system dynamics, and
I have obtained permission to scan and use digital formats of a half dozen books from three different
publishers for educational purposes without charge. I am convinced that distance education will become
an inexpensive and attractive option for many people if we all learn how to use our resources fairly and
wisely. I have written this to show others how to do this and to encourage the careful use of copyrighted
materials for online study options. Keep in mind that this virtual education option should be inexpensive
(or free), well designed, attractive, and of course, you must truly have the background experience or
education you rquire to teach what you are offering. Don’t ruin online educational opportunities for
others. Keep in mind that what you do helps form the repuation of what everyone else does. If you do
what you can correctly, you will become part of a creative commons which works for everyone.

This document may be freely used for educational non-commercial purposes. © September, 2010

About the author: Michael McCurley is an alumnus of the MIT Guided Study Program in System
Dynamics. He has also worked as a teacher and high school principal. He lives in Costa Rica.