Q. If a book is no longer in print by any publisher, what are the copyright rules? May I make copies for students in my class?

Copyright questions are fun... well, we recieve lots of copyright questions at least.

The short answer to your question is sort of complicated with some exceptions - just like the laws involved. Please see the links below for more details and the reasoning behind the answers.

You may make copies for your personal use (under the Fair Use provisions); you may make copies of selected sections for in-class distribution (under the classroom exemption); you may place the entire book, or a copy of up to one chapter or 10% of the book, on reserve in the library (under the library exceptions); or you may place a scan of selected sections (up to one chapter or 10% of the book) for your students' use in your D2L course shell (under the TEACH Act).