Copyright Info/Fair Use
Copyright Info Center
The information in the Copyright Information Center is given to provide a general and brief overview of the United States Copyright Law and Fair Use guidelines as applied to education and school projects. Please feel free to download a printable brochure of this information.
What is Copyright?
According to United States law, copyright is defined as protection of an author’s original works that are in a tangible medium. Certain exclusive rights are given to the author of the original works:
The right to make copies of the work
The right to adapt the original work
The right to copy and distribute the work for sale, lease or lend
The right to display or perform the work publicly
Why is the Copyright Law important?
The Copyright Law gives the author(s) of an original work credit for creativity and initiative and financial protection. The financial protection encourages more original works. Obeying the Copyright Law benefits society because people will continue to produce original works.
What can be copyrighted?
- Literary works
- Dramatic works
- Musical works
- Artistic works
- Examples: Poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, photographs/illustrations, and architecture
What is not copyrighted?
- Facts
- Titles
- Names
- Short phrases
- Systems
- Methods of operation
- Government works (according to section 105 of the copyright law)
When is permission needed?
When the copyrighted material in the educational project is for commercial reproduction and distribution.
When the duplication needed exceeds the listed limitations – even for educational use.
When sharing the personally created educational projects over electronic networks outside of the course for which the projects were created.
Copyright Reminders
- Copyrighted material in a project following the fair use guidelines may only be shared with the class for which it was created. When the class is over, the project creator may use the project in a portfolio as examples of academic work for later personal uses such as job and graduate school interviews.
- Remember work found on the Internet comes with a copyright even if there isn’t a visible copyright symbol. All work is copyrighted when it is created.
- Digital material from the Internet may either be copyrighted or public domain. Always assume the material is copyrighted. It is better to error on the side of caution.
- Access to work on the Internet does not automatically mean that these can be reproduced and reused without permission or royalty payment. Some copyrighted works may have been posted to the Internet without permission from the copyright holder.
- When downloading material from the web, always cite the source of the material at the end of the project.
- Image sources must be cited where the image is displayed.
- The title screen of the multimedia project must include a notice that certain materials are included under the fair use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and are being used according to the guidelines.
- If there is a possibility that the project will be used later to a wider audience, then it is strongly recommended that permissions be obtained during the development process for all copyrighted portions.
- Consumable materials, e.g. workbooks, are never to be copied.
Fair Use
What is Fair Use?
According to United States law, Fair Use is not an infringement on copyrighted work. That means that it is okay for someone to copy another person’s original work for certain purposes, such as: criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.
There are four guidelines that must be followed for Fair Use to apply:
- The purpose and character of the use
- The nature of the copyrighted work
- The amount and substance of the portion used in relation to the whole copyrighted work (see Portion Limitations page at left)
- The effect of the use upon the potential market for the copyrighted work or the value of the copyrighted work