Explaining Copyright Law and How It Applies to Teachers: What You Need to Know About Fair Use, Making Copies & More The Basics In today's digital world, where reproduction of material is easier than ever, copyright is becoming increasingly important. As a teacher, you may notice that students now have more of an intuition about the concept, given everything that they hear about music piracy, online plagiarism, and other intellectual property issues that might actually affect them. What Is Copyright? One way to look at copyright is that it is a gift from the government to creators of original work. Here in the United States, copyright is actually a codified right in the Constitution: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." How Do I Know if Something Is Copyrighted? Does Copyright Protection Last Forever? It does not! What Rights Do Copyright Holders Have? The Copyright Act gives five exclusive rights to the creators of a work:
The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use A five-part series When it comes to copyright law and the application of fair use exceptions, ignorance is definitely not bliss! Learn how to educate yourselves and your students and avoid making a costly mistake! You really did plan to find time over the summer to familiarize yourself with the latest information on copyright law. So now you have a student who wants to include audio of a Beatles song in a multimedia presentation about the 1960s, another who wants to include the poem "Casey at the Bat" in a report on the World Series, and a third who wants to post photographs of Biden and Obama to the class Web site. What's an educator to do? Click Part 1: Copyrights and Copying Wrongs below to begin. Who Said That? Article by Linda Starr Education World® Copyright © Education World
The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use A five-part series When it comes to copyright law and the application of fair use exceptions, ignorance is definitely not bliss! Learn how to educate yourselves and your students and avoid making a costly mistake! You really did plan to find time over the summer to familiarize yourself with the latest information on copyright law. You absolutely intended to look up the fair use guidelines for using technology resources. You truly meant to create a classroom copyright policy, locate agencies that grant permissions to use copyrighted materials, write a template for a permission request form, and locate sites to teach students about the value of original work and the societal benefits of obeying copyright laws. What's an educator to do? Click Part 1: Copyrights and Copying Wrongs below to begin. Who Said That? Article by Linda Starr Education World® Copyright © Education World
Fair Use in a Nutshell Fair Use in a Nutshell: A Practical Guide to Fair Use By Attorney Lloyd J. Jassin “Words must be weighed not counted.” -- Old Yiddish proverb Unfortunately, many creative projects are stillborn or abandoned, because the author, or the author's producer or publisher partner, was intimidated by the subject of “fair use.” The Basics Fair use allows scholars, researchers and others to borrow or use small portions of in-copyright works for socially productive purposes without seeking permission. While invaluable to both the scholar and the pitchman, it should be noted that fair use is not a right but a defense to copyright infringement. When Do I Need to Ask Permission? If your work contains "borrowed" material, and you have not obtained permission from the owner of the work, it can only be used if: (i) the material is in the "public domain" (i.e. out of copyright); (ii) the material is immune from copyright protection; or (iii) the proposed use is a "fair use." Copyright Safe Havens
Copyright in the classroom | UC Copyright United States copyright law provides important exceptions to the rights of copyright holders that are specifically aimed at nonprofit educational institutions and libraries. Three provisions of the copyright statute are of particular importance to teachers and researchers: Teachers and students have certain rights to publicly display and perform copyrighted works in the classroom (Section 110 of U.S. Copyright Law).Libraries and archives have special exemptions for the reproduction of copyrighted works in some circumstances (Section 108 of US Copyright Law).The "fair use" allows limited copying of copyrighted works without the permission of the owner for certain purposes, including teaching and research (Section 107 of US Copyright Law). The fair use exception is purposefully broad and flexible, which may make some members of the UC community uncomfortable relying on it. Copying that does not fall within the guidelines stated below may nonetheless be permitted under fair use.
Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors Unfortunately, the only way to get a definitive answer on whether a particular use is a fair use is to have it resolved in federal court. Judges use four factors to resolve fair use disputes, as discussed in detail below. It’s important to understand that these factors are only guidelines that courts are free to adapt to particular situations on a case‑by‑case basis. In other words, a judge has a great deal of freedom when making a fair use determination, so the outcome in any given case can be hard to predict. The four factors judges consider are: the purpose and character of your usethe nature of the copyrighted workthe amount and substantiality of the portion taken, andthe effect of the use upon the potential market. Ignore Heading – Sub heading content Ignore Heading – Sub table content The Transformative Factor: The Purpose and Character of Your Use In a 1994 case, the Supreme Court emphasized this first factor as being an important indicator of fair use. Ignore Heading – Content
14 copyright essentials teachers and students must know | Ditch That Textbook Using copyrighted material incorrectly can land teachers and students in hot water. Here’s what you need to know to stay safe. (Image by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay.com / CC0) Students and teachers toe a very fuzzy ethical line every day — many without even realizing it. Some end up on the safe side of the line, but others cross the line and cross ethical boundaries — and sometimes costly legal ones. That line is the copyright line, deciding how teachers and students can respect people’s intellectual property. The bottom line is this: Copyright doesn’t automatically mean, “This is mine. The silver lining is this: Copyright isn’t the only license on digital media. Kristina Peters, a digital learning specialist for the Nebraska Department of Education, recently discussed copyright, licensing and the essentials that teachers and students should know. Here are some of the take-aways from that discussion: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Have other questions about copyright? Related
Why teach copyright to students? There are several reasons why it is important for students to develop a basic understanding of how copyright and limitations such as fair use work together to encourage creativity. Copyright is becoming an essential element of digital literacy – because everyone is a publisher now. Students today grow up with powerful technologies at their fingertips from very early ages. These technologies enable them to access, share, copy, generate, and collaborate on creative work in ways that are new and constantly evolving. Put simply, kids today may be large-scale consumers of online media, but they are also creators, publishers, distributors, and critics. That’s where copyright comes in. Standards groups say kids need to learn about copyright. Copyright is important to the future of creativity and the Internet. More broadly, to keep the Internet functioning in a free and open manner, it is important for citizens to choose to live ethically in their digital environments.
Copyright for Students | Rutgers University Libraries Copyright underlies our daily activity at the university- whether we realize it or not. When students create assignments, projects, paper, and theses, when they use other peoples’ works to support their scholarly and educational work, and when they copy materials in any format and on any platform, copyright law is relevant. There are two sides to copyright: Your rights in the copyrighted works you are creating: assignments, projects, papers, and theses, etc.The rights of other authors or creators in the copyrighted works you are using. Students are responsible for making sure that their uses of copyrighted material does not violate the rights of others. Students should read the sections of this website on Copyright Basics, Fair Use, Contract and Licensing Basics, and Copyright in Academic Research and Publication. Using other people’s works Student work is meant to be original, created uniquely by the student. General rules of thumb: Unlicensed and licensed works Avoiding plagiarism
Students and Copyright | Next Page What is copyright? A simple definition of copyright is that it is a bunch of rights in certain creative works (literary works, artistic works, musical works, computer programs, sound recordings, films and broadcasts) which can be used to stop others from copying the creative works without permission. At its most basic, copyright is simply the exclusive right to copy. The rights are granted exclusively to the copyright owner to reproduce (copy, scan, print) and communicate (email, put on Internet) the material, and for some material, the right to perform or show the work to the public. Copyright owners can prevent others from reproducing or communicating their work without their permission. Why is copyright important? Copyright is important because it gives creators control over their creative works. What does copyright protect? Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, styles or techniques. The types of works copyright protects include: When does copyright apply?
The classroom use exemption is often used to justify some questionable practices in the classroom so this site explains when it applies and when a teacher should think before utilizing work that may not fit under the fair use umbrella. by annambaker Feb 5