Copyright Policy

We have poured our hearts, time, and energy into developing for our customers the very best curriculum possible.

ALL curriculum we develop is copyright protected.

Is It Theft to Violate a Copyright?

If you have ever wondered whether or not it is theft to violate a copyright, please read Tammy Cardwell's article "Theft by Any Other Name." In it, she explains the laws of copyright and why homeschoolers should follow them.

Our copyrighted material includes books/handouts we publish, our Instructor's Guides, and activity sheets. We hold these things most dear because they are the HEART of the Sonlight curriculum.

To appropriately recoup our costs of development, production, distribution, and support, and to make a just profit, we sell our copyrighted material and reserve all rights to make copies or other reproductions.

However,

1. To original Sonlight purchasers only, and for as long as the original purchaser retains possession of the original materials purchased from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd., we gladly grant an unlimited right to copy and utilize copies of Sonlight Curriculum published materials with and for the education of members of their immediate families only for the following: Schedule Pages, Evaluation Form, Certification of Completion, Life Skills Check-Off Lists, Field Trip Planning and Record Sheets, Blank Record Sheets and Activity Sheets.

2. To original purchasers and all other legal owners of Sonlight-copyrighted materials, we grant the right to make whatever copies are necessary to aid in legal reporting requirements.

Without its explicit prior written permission, Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. specifically disallows all other reproduction, by any other persons, at any other times and in any other circumstances — except for brief quotations in printed reviews.

Moreover, we specifically withhold permission to copy our materials, in whole or in part, for use in extended families or for the purpose of distribution outside the bounds stated above. To meet the needs of co-ops and classrooms, and as a convenience to our customers, we have agreed to create a copying license that may be purchased. The license will be good for a year from the date of purchase, enabling the purchaser to copy up to 50 pages of one or more items. The fee for the license is $5.00.

This license is limited to copying portions of Study Guides, notes, and maps only; no schedules or book lists, etc. The license may not be used for any commercial business purpose, and the copied materials may NOT be resold. Furthermore, the purchaser may secure this license ONLY for the materials they have directly purchased from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.

We will make this copying license available only upon demand. We will not advertise or include in our catalog or elsewhere online.

3. Specific copyright notices History / Bible / Literature, Language Arts, and Science Instructor's Guides (IG's). No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means--electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other--except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles or printed reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher. However, permission is hereby granted to the original Sonlight Curriculum Ltd. purchaser only to reproduce as many copies of the Schedule Pages, Evaluation Form, Activity Sheets, Certificate of Completion, Life Skills Check-Off Lists, Field Trip Planning and Record Sheets, and Blank Record Sheets as necessary for his or her immediate family's use.

Notes

The phrase "original purchaser" refers solely to a private party (generally a mother or father) who has purchased Sonlight Curriculum materials directly from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. for his or her immediate family's use only. It also includes a private party who is using, for his or her own immediate family's use only, materials that have been purchased specifically in his or her behalf directly from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. by a third party. Please note that when you receive materials "used" — whether by purchase, loan, gift, or swap — you do NOT meet the definition of "original purchaser."

The phrase "for as long as the original purchaser retains possession of the original materials" means that if and as soon as the original purchaser has conveyed a copy of Sonlight Curriculum materials to another party (other than a mentor who is engaged solely for the benefit of the original purchaser's own children and which mentor retains possession of a copy only for as long as s/he is engaged in such monitoring activity), s/he ceases to fulfill the definition of an "original purchaser" as defined above and thus extinguishes all rights from that moment forward either to copy or to use copies of the materials for any educational purposes. If s/he ever decides to use the same materials again in the future, then s/he will either have to purchase them from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. (and thus establish his or her rights as an "original purchaser"), or s/he will have to acquire them used.

The phrase "to copy and utilize . . . with and for the education of members of their immediate families only" means such copies may never be used for the education of non-family members. Please note that cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents, etc., do NOT count as "immediate family."

The phrase "other reproduction" refers to reproduction in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, re-keying or any other.

Reporting of Alleged Copyright Infringement

1. Introduction. This policy implements the procedures described in Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. Section 512 (DMCA) for the reporting of alleged copyright infringement. The policy of Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. is to respect the legitimate rights of copyright owners, their agents, and representatives. We require users of any part of our computing system to respect the legal protections provided by applicable copyright laws.

2. Designated Agent. The Company's Designated Agent to receive notification of alleged infringement under the DMCA is:

Marla Boone, 8042 South Grant Way, Littleton, CO 80122-2705

You may reach her by phone at 303-730-8193 or by email at mboone@sonlight.com. Upon receipt of notification of claimed infringement, he will follow the procedures outlined herein and in the DMCA.

3. Complaint Notice Procedures for Copyright Owners. You must include the following in your notice of alleged copyright infringement to the Designated Agent:

  • An electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;

  • Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notice, a representative list of such works at that site.

  • Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;

  • Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which you may be contacted;

  • A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

  • A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

If you fail to include all of the above information, we may be delayed in processing your DMCA notification.

4. Notice and Takedown Procedure. We expect all users of any part of our computer system will comply with applicable copyright laws. However, if we are notified of claimed copyright infringement, or otherwise become aware of facts and circumstances from which infringement is apparent, we will respond expeditiously by removing, or disabling access to the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity. We will comply with the appropriate provisions of the DMCA in the event a counter notification is received by its Designated Agent.

5. Repeat Infringers. Under appropriate circumstances, we may, in our discretion, terminate authorization of users of our system or network who are repeat infringers.

6. Accommodation of Standard Technical Measures. We accommodate and do not interfere with standard technical measures we determine are reasonable under the circumstances (i.e., technical measures that are used by copyright owners to identify or protect copyrighted works).