Copyright or Copywrong?

A Teacher’s Guide to the Teach Act & Fair Use

QUIZ: True or False

• A copyrighted work may be used or copied under certain conditions.

• Copyright laws do not extend to facts and ideas.

• If a teacher is using copyrighted materials, there is a proper type and amount that they may use by law.

• Fair use has been a part of copyright law for almost 200 years.

The answer to all the questions is TRUE!

Teachers use copyrighted materials all the time and that is ok! Section 107 of the Copyright Law and the Teach Act give teachers the right.

Fair Use• Section 107, loosely termed “fair use,”

allows use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes according to certain restrictions. 

• By utilizing Fair Use, teachers have access to works that reach past the classrooms and textbooks, so they can expand and enrich learning opportunities for students. Technology is available in most schools and this allows teachers to maximize their teaching potential.

Taken from http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Introduction

The Teach Act

• This is a separate set of rights that is used as an addition to Fair Use.

• There are no limits or permission needed to use clips, music, movies, or really any type of media.

• This act was created to address the disparity in “distance education.”

• However, the Teach Act is not unlimited; it covers only media that is shown directly in classes and institutions and must abide by rules that are defined in the Act itself.

Taken from http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/teachact.htm

Students Using Copyrighted Materials in their School Projects

• Is it ok to allow student to use copyrighted materials for school projects?– YES! This is a battle that is fought every day,

as teachers attempt to teach their students about the responsible use of the Internet.

– Students may use the materials on the Internet and other media resources, but they must document the creator whenever possible. Students should also continue to be creative in their approaches and not rely too heavily on prefabricated images.

Examples of How Might Students Use Copyrighted Materials in their School Projects

– This rule is important anytime that students use the Internet for projects. The following items are appropriate for students use:• Music• Books• Images• Websites• Online periodicals/databases• Videos• Any other media resource

Teacher Scenario

Mrs. Frankelstein brings her fifth period English class into the computer lab to create a bio-poem. She instructs her students to use words and images that they find online to assemble this poem. The poems are to be used for educational purposes only and will not be submitted for contests or public displays of any type. This is purely an English class exercise.

Appropriate Audiences

• Who is allowed to view student/teacher presentations that use copyrighted materials that take advantage of Fair Use?– The presentations should mainly be viewed within

the non-profit, educational institution by students and other educators. There should be no large-scale public presentation. If the project that uses copyrighted materials is placed on the Internet, it is a violation of Fair Use, so teachers must be cognizant of this issue.

– Teachers are also encouraged to cite copyrighted materials appropriately in order to set a good example for students; this reinforces the importance of copyright protocol adherence.

Teacher Scenario

Mr. Glickman instructed his third period history class to create PowerPoint presentations about the Holocaust. Students were allowed to use any multi-media resources as well as books, magazines, and periodicals. In addition, Mr. Glickman did require all of his students to turn in a Works Cited page along with their presentations. He invited only the principal and classmates to view the presentations.

Reproducing/Using Copyrighted Materials in the Classroom

• This is a common practice for most teachers, but is it ethically correct?– YES! Teachers may use books, workbooks,

podcasts, videos, music, websites, and any other resource for educational purposes.

– Teachers must give credit to the author, creator, or producer and must use the materials explicitly for classroom enrichment. In addition the materials should be aligned with the objectives for the lesson/unit.

Reproducing/Using Copyrighted Materials in the Classroom

Work or Materials to be used for Educational Purposes

Fair Use Restrictions for Face-to-Face Teaching

Illegal Use without Explicit Permission from Creator/Author

Chapter in a book

Multiple copies used again and again without permission.Multiple copies to create anthology.

Single copy for teacher for research, teaching, or class preparation.Multiple copies (one per student per class) okay if material is (a) adequately brief, (b) spontaneously copied, (c) in compliance with cumulative effect test.

Copyright notice and attribution required.

Multiple copies to avoid purchase of textbook or consumable materials.

Prose, short story, short essay, Web article ame as above.Multiple copies of complete work of less than 2,500 words and excerpts up to 1,000

words or 10% of work, whichever is less. For works of 2,500-4,999 words, 500 words may be copied.

Same as above

Poem Same as for first item.Multiple copies allowed of complete poem up to 250 words -- no more than two

printed pages. Multiple copies of up to 250 words from longer poems.

Same as above

Artwork or graphic image -

chart, diagram, graph, drawing, cartoon, picture from periodical, newspaper, or book, Web page image

Same as for first item.No more than 5 images of an artist/photographer in one program or printing and not more than 10% or 15% of images from published collective work, whichever is less.

same as first itemIncorporation or alteration into another form or as embellishment, decoration for artistic purposes for other than temporary purposes.

Motion media -

film and videotape production

Single copy of up to 3 minutes or 10% of the whole, whichever is less.Spontaneity required.

Multiple copies prohibited. Incorporation or alteration into another form as embellishment for artistic purposes for other than temporary purposes prohibited.

Music

-sheet music, songs, lyrics, operas, musical scores, compact disk, disk, or

cassette taped recording

Single copy of up to 10% of a musical composition in print, sound, or multimedia form.

Same as immediately aboveChart obtained at http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm , Washington University adaptation

Teacher Scenario

Mrs. Pagnam found a fabulous short story (aproximately 2000 words) that highlighted how an author uses voice in his writing. Her students had been struggling with this technique for weeks. She photocopied one class set for her students to use during her lesson that day. Students only used the copies in school, and Mrs. Pagnam had clearly presented the author and copyright information on a title page that she created.

ConclusionsThe rules for Fair Use and the Teach Act have been established to allow educators and students some leeway in their use of copyrighted materials. Students may use copyrighted materials for class presentations; teachers may make copies of materials for school use only; and so as long as the audience consists of students or education related staff, the use of copyrighted materials is appropriate in each identified situation. It is important to remember that students and teachers each have a responsibility to cite media and text sources whenever possible. This establishes correct protocols that students should learn to follow for a lifetime. Learning through practice is the core of this philosophy.

ResourcesCenter for Social Media. (n.d.). Code of best practices in fair use for media literacy

education. Retrieved from http://wnec.embanet.com/file.php/1/ED615/Documents/CodeofBestPracticesinFairUse.pdf

Copyright Crash Course. (2002, November 13). Teach act finally becomes law. Retrieved from http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/teachact.htm

Newsome, Cathy. (1997). A teacher’s guide to fair use and copyright. Retrieved from http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Introduction

University of Texas Libraries. (n.d.). Copyright crash course. Retrieved from http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/teachact.html#toolkit

U.S. Copyright Office. (2009, November). Copyright and fair use. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

Washington State University. (1997, October 22). Guidelines for educational use of copyrighted materials. Retrieved from http://publications.urel.wsu.edu:80/copyright/CopyrightGuide/copyrightguide.html. [7 November, 1998].