Educators and the LawCOPYRIGHT

BY: LAUREN D. WILLIAMS

Copyright infringement can best be described as the act of violating any of a copyright owner ’s exclusive rights granted by the federal Copyright Act.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

In order for an infringement to occur, the following elements must be evident:

1.The copyright holder must have a valid copyright.2.The person who is allegedly infringing must have access to the

copyrighted work.3.The duplication of the copyrighted work must be outside the

exceptions.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CRITERIA

1.Infringer pays the actual dollar amount of damages and profits.2.The law provides a range from $200 to $150,000 for each work

infringed.3.Infringer pays for all attorneys fees and court costs.4.The Court can issue an injunction to stop the infringing acts.5.The Court can impound the illegal works.6.The infringer can go to jail.

PENALTIES FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Fair use allows the use of copyrighted materials without obtaining permission as long as the use can be considered fair, and this applies to everyone.

FAIR USE

Prior to a claim that ones copyright has been infringed, four factors must be understood and applied:

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

2. The nature of the copyrighted work3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation

to the copyrighted work as a whole4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value

of, the copyrighted work

FAIR USE FACTORS

If a book, song, movie, or artwork is in the public domain, it is not protected by intellectual property laws (copyright, trademark, or patent laws)—which means it’s free for you to use without permission.

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

They must be shown as part of the instructional program.

2.They must be shown by students, instructors, or guest lecturers.

3.They must be shown either in a classroom or other school location devoted to instruction such as a studio, workshop, l ibrary, gymnasium, or auditorium if i t is used for instruction.

4.They must be shown either in a face-to-face sett ing or where students and teacher(s) are in the same building or general area.

5.They must be shown only to students and educators.

6.They must be shown using a legit imate (that is , not i l legally reproduced) copy with the copyright notice included .

CONDITIONS FOR USING MULTIMEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM

The owner of copyright in a work has the exclusive right to make copies, to prepare derivative works, to sell or distribute copies, and to perform the work publicly. Anyone else wishing to use the work in these ways must have the permission of the author or someone who has derived rights through the author.

MUSIC

The following regulations must be adhered to when using another persons musical score:

Up to 10% of a copyrighted musical composition, but no more than 30 seconds

Up to 10% of a body of sound recording, but no more than 30 seconds

Any alterations cannot change the basic melody or the fundamental character of the work

MUSIC, CONT.

The following regulations must be adhered to when taping or using film in the classroom:

Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or 3 minutes, whichever is less Clip cannot be altered in any way

MOTION MEDIA

Permission is not needed if a presentation falls within the specific multimedia fair use guidelines previously mentioned; however, educators should take the steps to obtain permission when in doubt.

Care should be used in downloading any sites for use in multimedia presentations.

Educators and students are advised to write for permission to use Internet resources and to be mindful of the copyright ramifications of including embedded additional links to that particular site.

THE INTERNET

Retrieved from http://copyright.gov/circs/circ50.pdf

Retrieved from https://lamission.edu/de/missioncopyright.htm

Copyright Infringement Penalties. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.lib.purdue.edu/uco/CopyrightBasics/penalties.html

U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

REFERENCES