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[Anonymous]

If a teacher teaching from a textbook wants to write a test to cover the concepts in a math book, could that be considered a derivative work?  I created the problems, but they are of the same flavor as the ones in the particular chapters that the test covers.  I asked our textbook publisher about making slides to use in my lectures, and they said that I don't need permission to use concepts, which I know are not copyrightable, unless I display them in the same fashion as the book.  But I was wondering if the arrangement of the concepts into a chapter or unit could somehow be copyrighted.

[Smokin]

You are delving into grey areas of copyrights where Lawyers get shifty and uncomfortable because you can technically make and argument that its is copyrightable, but it also contradicts the point of copyrights which is to promote the arts and sciences and really makes text books impractical if you cant make tests for students with them.

Generally speaking, teachers and accredited schools are given great freedoms for using materials with copyrights for teching purposes so long as you dont circumvent the money making potential of text book makers or whatever. There is a strong STRONG fair use or exception argument hat can be made for tests , "or derivatives" from text books. There is also a theoretical argument that can be made that it is not allowed and Im sure one day some jack ass is going to try and cash in on threatening to sue a school for making tests.

Anyway, I would use the communication with the publisher as permission to create your tests and not worry about copyrights in this siuation, especially if they are for use with only students and not going to be published or widely distributed.