DALLAS and LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16 -- This fall, Kinko's returns to its campus roots with two new and improved versions of CoursePacks, a product the company hasn't focused on in more than a decade. CoursePacks are custom-made compilations used by educators to supplement traditional textbooks in the classroom. They typically contain up-to-date information from newspapers, magazines or book excerpts that require permission from the copyright owners in order to be legally produced. Kinko's re-enters the market with Kinko's CoursePack Solutions, including two services designed to meet the needs of educators and students. For Kinko's CoursePacks Complete, Kinko's has teamed with University of Southern California's University Custom Publishing (UCP) to provide a full-service option that includes copyright clearance and formatting by UCP, as well as custom covers, printing and delivery from Kinko's. The company also introduced Kinko's CoursePacks Direct, an option for schools that obtain their own copyright permissions. "Kinko's CoursePack Solutions represent a new, customized outsourcing option for CoursePacks that speeds production, is cost-effective for educators and students, and protects the rights of content creators," said Chris Gibson, Kinko's vice president of marketing and a former teacher. "The introduction of Kinko's CoursePack Solutions also reflects our commitment to Kinko's Commercial Solutions, which delivers variable-cost and print-on-demand outsourcing for educational institutions and other businesses." Kinko's Re-enters the CoursePack Market Kinko's was founded near the University of California Santa Barbara in 1970 to meet the needs of faculty and students, and CoursePacks quickly became a key driver in Kinko's early success. However, Kinko's exited the CoursePacks business in the early '90s after its involvement in a landmark suit regarding the scope of "fair use" for copyrighted material as defined in the Copyright Act of 1976. At that time, Kinko's opted to discontinue CoursePacks until it could create a better process for obtaining copyright clearances. A Better Solution Kinko's CoursePack Solutions capitalize on some of the company's core strengths -- service, speed and convenience -- while creating an enhanced process that strictly complies with copyright laws. To ensure proper copyright permissions and royalty payments, Kinko's has formed a strategic alliance with UCP, which is a division of the University of Southern California. Kinko's CoursePack Solutions launches with pilot programs at seven universities this fall. "University Custom Publishing has more than a decade of experience in managing centralized copyright clearance for clients throughout California and the Northwest," said Daniel Archer, Director of UCP. "We are especially pleased that Kinko's has placed such a high value on campus bookstores as a retailing partner. Our expertise, combined with Kinko's digitally connected network of locations conveniently located near campuses everywhere, creates an unparalleled nationwide CoursePacks capability." Flexible Options for Educators, Students To meet the varying needs of CoursePacks customers, Kinko's offers two flexible options -- Kinko's CoursePacks Complete and Kinko's CoursePacks Direct. Kinko's CoursePacks Complete is a full-service option including copyright clearance and formatting by UCP, custom covers, printing and delivery. Benefits of Kinko's CoursePacks Complete include: -- Initial CoursePacks copyright clearance and production in five weeks or less (with an average of 12 working days), compared to six to eight weeks among some competitors. -- Re-orders are ready in 24-hours in most cases. -- CoursePacks are produced locally with free pick up and delivery available. No shipping charges or delays. -- Production is managed entirely by Kinko's with copyright clearance and formatting by UCP. Mastering process that includes "clean up" of low-quality originals. -- Competitive pricing along with the ability to return any unsold CoursePacks for full credit in most cases. For colleges and universities that obtain copyright permissions themselves, Kinko's CoursePacks Direct offers CoursePack production, but only after copyright clearance certification. Campus bookstore executives, educators and administrators responsible for CoursePacks are invited to call 1-888-KINKOS-1 for referral to a local Kinko's Account Manager.