ECC Copyright Statement Final.doc

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Statement on American Heart Association's Copyright Policies Related to

Emergency Cardiovascular Care Guidelines and Materials

The American Heart Association is aware of recent questions that have arisen

regarding its copyright policies as they pertain to the Guidelines 2000 for

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. An e-mail has

been circulating written by an individual who said the American Heart

Association sent him a letter saying that to use one of the ECC Guidelines

algorithms in a textbook, he would have to pay either $50,000 or 1 percent of

the sales profits.

The American Heart Association's current copyright permission policy does not

require a $50,000 payment or 1 percent of profits for the use of a single

algorithm. This information is not reflective of the current copyright

permission policy. The American Heart Association is researching the matter and

is working with this individual to clarify its policy and to correct any

misinformation that may have been communicated.

Organizations or individuals frequently ask for permission to use algorithms and

other content from our ECC guidelines and course materials. The American Heart

Association requires a formal written request that is forwarded to our internal

copyright permissions department for review. If permission is granted, the

organization or individual is assessed a $25 processing fee. This fee covers

the American Heart Association's costs to have its staff review the request for

scientific accuracy.

For organizations or individuals that use information from ECC materials to

develop and use and/or sell products, the Association charges a fee of $100.00

per item (table or algorithm) for up to three items. We are currently

developing a formal policy to address requests for information exceeding three

items, which should be completed by June 1. Currently, requests to use more

than three items in a single publication or product are negotiated on a

case-by-case basis so that both parties reach a fair agreement.

As in the past, EMS agencies, hospitals, ambulance services and government

agencies are encouraged to use the guidelines to set their regulations,

standards, guidelines and protocols. There is no fee for using the guidelines

in this manner.

The American Heart Association cannot copyright the science that went into the

guidelines; copyright covers the format and manner of presentation of the work,

such as the design of the algorithms. The guidelines resulted from nearly two

years of rigorous scientific debate and evaluation by hundreds of the world's

top resuscitation research scientists.

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