What is a Course Packet?

A Course Packet is a professionally produced compilation of selected readings used in place of, or along with textbooks.

Most professional educators choose from a variety of sources to assist them in educating their students. BelJean Printing has been producing Course Packets since 1972 and can provide an avenue to help you combine those materials and images for creating a clear, concise and informative coursework guide. You decide on the materials, and we can do the rest. The following information is required in order for you to put together your own course packet.

Getting Started

If you have copyrighted material, you may want to read BelJean's guidelines for using copyrighted and fair-use materials. Royalties can greatly affect the price of your packet and that page will give you tips on how to avoid excessive fees as well as delay getting your Course Packet in time for your class.

If your Course Packet does not contain any royalties, we can produce them within 48 hours!! Just fill out our online order form and call for a pickup.

Preparing Material

Course Packets can contain selections from books, journals, magazines as well as your own content. All published works must be checked by our Academic Specialist to see if permission needs to be sought for photocopying or if the work can be considered fair-use. To do that , the following information MUST be suplied:

Title of the work

Author(s) or Editor(s) of the work

Copyright year

Publisher

Page Numbers (For non-edited books, a total page count is needed. If a total count is not supplied, a work that would be fair-use may not be reognized as such.)

Please take care when preparing your materials to save time and have your packets ready sooner for the semester.

Submitting Materials

Submit your information by contacting our Academic Specialist, Cathy Katz at ckatz@beljean.com and a Copyright Form will be emailed directly to you. If you would like to discuss your course packet with our Academic Specialist, please call us at (301)937-6500 or visit us at 7008 Virginia Manor Road, Beltsville, Maryland, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 AM until 4:30 PM.

We accept original books, journals, etc., as well as photocopies of the articles. There are different things to consider with each. Any copying we have to do to produce a clean master will be priced accordingly and spread out over your entire enrollment.

Books/Journal: We can normally make a master copy and return your books within one to three weeks depending on our workload at the time. If you have a time constraint and need them returned by a specific date, please let us know when you place your order. It is best to get them to us early, before the busiest part of the pre-semester rush.

Photocopies: If you make copies of the originals yourself, please try to keep the quality as high as possible, particularly with any photographs. There is always a small amount of degradation when copying and no way to improve a bad original. For copies with large black margins, oddsizes, or in fragile condition, we will make a cleaner copy for the master and return the originals if you wish. Single sided copies are preferred.

Bibliography: If you know of possible copyrighted material you plan to use, you may submit a bibliography to us ahead of time to begin the clearance process. This will allow you more time to gather your materials and will also help us spot potential problems (high royalties, denied permission by publishers, etc.) in time to adjust your packet. This information can be sent to us in person, by fax (301-937-3107) or by e-mail at ckatz@beljean.com.

All Other Material: Any bound materials will be handled like Books/Journals above, anything unbound or loose-leaf will be handled like Photocopies.

Questions

How do my students receive my Course Packets?
BelJean Course Packets are sold at the Maryland Book Exchange (lower Level) at 4500 College Avenue, College Park, Maryland across from the University of Maryland Main Entrance

What do I need to place an order?
Please complete our Instruction Sheet, email ckatz@beljean.com for a pdf version of the form, fax us at (301) 937-3107 or call for a pick-up at (301) 937-6500.

What happens after I assemble my materials:
BelJean will:

1. Pick up your originals and Order Form
2. Request permission for copyrighted materials
3. Master and clean up originals
4. Produce Instructor and Student copies
5. Deliver student copies to the Maryland Book
Exchange
6. Deliver Instructor Copy to you

COPYRIGHT CLEARANCES

Although many educational works are not copyrighted, most publishers will charge a fee in order to use their materials. BelJean submits copyright clearance requests to the appropriate publishers and can then produce a finished product for students and handle collection of royalties. The permission process can take up to three weeks or longer, although previously checked articles can usually be cleared faster. Deadlines for submitting copyrighted materials to be ready for the first day of class should normally be submitted three weeks prior to the first day of your scheduled class.

There has been much debate about copyright law, particularly the clause dealing with "fair use for educational purposes." Court cases which have dealt with this question have been inconclusive, even conflicting, and none have set national precedent. Until the U.S. Supreme Court decides otherwise, BelJean has set up its own set of guidelines to comply with the law, while trying to provide fair-use of materials whenever possible.

There are four non-exclusive statutory factors used in determining whether a use is fair. They are:
1. The purpose of the use, including whether
such use is for commercial or for non-
profit, educational purposes. This is
perhaps the most important distinction.
Since BelJean is a business, the
production and sale of course packets is
a commercial use of the works. For items
that have a high royalty, however,
instructors may make copies themselves and
distribute them to the students without
paying royalties. They may, also, place
items on reserve at the library for the
students to copy themselves.

2. The nature of the work. Consideration is
based on whether the selection is from a
journal, magazine, book, edited volume
etc., as well as the number of years since
publication.

3. The amount used in relation to the work as
a whole. The larger the percentage of a work
used, the less likely it is that it will be
a fair use.

4. The effect of the use on the market or
potential market for the work. If using a
significant proportion of a work, permission
to copy it may be denied by the publisher.
In many cases, anything over 20-25% of a
book will be denied by the publisher and
they will request that you purchase the book
itself. Journal articles and shorter pieces
are almost always approved for the copying
in full.

Given these guidelines, we look at each selection to determine if copyright permission will be sought. Items will require no clearance if:

1. The number of pages you are using from a book
represent less than 10% of the total page
count. (This exception does not apply in the
case of edited volumes where various copy-
right sources are noted.)
2. The copyright on a book is 40 years old or
more.
3. The journal article you are using is 25
years old or more.
4. It is a government document or other item
in the public domain.
5. Copyright is held by the instructor.
6. Instructor has verbal or written approval
from rights holder (Documentation of this
is required. A fax or email from the
rights holder is sufficient.)

Remember, royalties can add a great deal to the final price of your packet. If any of your choices seem to have an excessive royalty, you will be contacted by our Academic Specialist and given a chance to remove the article.