Copyright:What Every Teacher and Student Should Know

Katie AmendCasey Moffett

What is copyright?

• Copyright protection is granted by law under the U.S. Constitution as a means to protect an author’s original work (in a tangible form). Copyright can cover both published and unpublished works.

• Copyright Infringement is when a copyright law is broken• This occurs when someone reproduces, distributes, performs, publicly

displays, or makes into a derivative of work someone else’s copyrighted material without their permission

• In some cases, when infringement occurs, the copyright holder might be entitled to compensation for his losses. For example, a loss of profit, or attorney fees.

• If someone willfully copies someone else’s work for a profit or financial gain, penalties could include fines and jail time depending on the value of the copied material

Fair Use• “Fair Use” is a clause created to protect the

general public• It is the idea that one does not need the

copyright holder’s authorization to use certain material in certain cases because it can be assumed that the use of the material is minimal enough that it does not interfere with the owner’s exclusive rights to reproduce and reuse the original work

What determines “fair use”?

• The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

• The nature of the copyrighted work• The amount and substantiality of the portion used

in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole• The effect of the use upon the potential market

for or value of the copyrighted work.

Multimedia in the Classroom

• Multimedia use in the classroom is considered “fair use” if it is being used for commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports

• There are no legal requirements for the specific amount of words, certain

number of musical notes, or percentage of a work

Text

• Teachers are allowed to make one copy of the following: a chapter from a book; an article from a periodical or newspaper; a short story, short essay or short poem; a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper.

• Teacher guidelines for photocopying:– Cannot be used to replace text or textbooks– Students may not be charged more than the actual cost of photocopying– Only 1 copy per student– Each copy must have a copyright notice attached – No more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be

copied from the same author during one school term– No more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume (for

example, a magazine or newspaper) during one school term– Must be teacher’s idea to make the copies– There is not enough time to obtain permission from copyright holder

Guidelines for Webmasters:

• 1. Assume It's Protected• 2. Read Click-Wrap Agreements• 3. Remove Unauthorized Material• 4. Investigate Claims Promptly• 5. When in Doubt, Seek Permission

How can I use a musical score without infringing on copyright?

Up to 10%, but never more than 30 seconds, of the music and lyrics from an individual musical work can

be used. Any alterations to a musical work cannot change the basic melody or the fundamental

character of the work.

Snippets of Film in the Classroom

• Snippets of movies can be shown in school classrooms without a license. Short snippets of films may be used under the Fair Use Doctrine.

• Fair use does not allow a person to break any electronic locks. Most copies of movies (DVDs, electronic copies, etc.) have digital locks that prevent the use of snippets and, except in a few specific circumstances, it is illegal to get around those locks. The only exception relating to the classroom is for the film or media studies department of a university.

Taping from the Television• Copying videotapes without the

copyright owner's permission is illegal. An exception is made for libraries to replace a work that is lost or damaged if another copy cannot be obtained at a fair price.

• Videotaped recordings may be kept for no more than 45 calendar days after the recording date, at which time the tapes must be erased.

• Videotaped recordings may be shown to students only within the first 10 school days of the 45-day retention period.

Taping from the Television, cont.

• The recordings are to be shown to students no more than two times during the 10-day period, and the second time only for necessary instructional reinforcement.

• The taped recordings may be viewed after the 10-day period only by instructors for evaluation purposes, to determine whether to include the broadcast program in the curriculum in the future.

• All copies of off-air recordings must include the copyright notice on the broadcast program as recorded.

• These guidelines apply only to nonprofit educational institutions, which are expected to establish appropriate control procedures to maintain the integrity of these guidelines.

How can teachers use information in their classroom?

Pay-per-use Permission Service• provides instant authorization to use and share

content from titles in science, technology, medicine, humanities, news, business, finance and more.

GET PERMISSION TO: • Photocopy material from books, newspapers,

journals and other publications for use in classroom handouts.

Copyright Navigator

References Harper, Georgia K. (2001). The copyright crash course. Retrieved

June 28, 2009, from the University of Texas System Web site: http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty cprtindx.htm

Newsome, Cathy (1997). A teacher’s guide to Fair Use and copyright: Modeling honesty and resourcefulness. Retrieved June, 28, 2009: Official Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Fair%20Use%20Matrix%20for%20Teachers

Stanford University: Copyright and Fair Use. (2009). Retrieved June 28, 2009: Official Web Site: http://www.copyright.gov

United States Copyright Office. (2009). Retrieved June 28, 2009: Official Web Site: http://fairuse.stanford.edu