THE EDUCATOR’S GUIDE ON THE COPYRIGHT LAWS PRESENTED BY : TIFFANY SPENCER

WHAT IS A “COPYRIGHT?” The term copyright refers to the legal rights to an original work. These rights or laws set forth the conditions under which a person my copy the original work of another person. Without copyright laws, writers, artists, and media producers would not receive the compensation they deserve for their creations.

COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 An educator who knowingly violates the copyright law, will be persecuted by the Copyright Act of The Copyright Act of 1976 contains criminal and civil sanctions. Possible fines include infringement fees ranging from $750 to $30,000 per infringement. Willful infringement for commercial use can be fine up to $150,000 and up to 5 years in prison.

EDUCATORS AND FAIR USE According to the Copyright Act of 1976, fair use provides an important copyright exception for teachers and students. Small portions of copyrighted works may be used in teaching, if properly cited. Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

WHAT EXACTLY IS “FAIR USE?” There are no absolute guidelines that constitute fair use in an educational setting; however, the law sets forth four basic criteria for defining it. They are: The nature of the work is general, and its audience is not predominantly the educational community. The character of use is nonprofit. The amount copied is minimal. There is no intent to replace the original.

RULE #1:NATURE OF THE WORK IS GENERAL Magazines or periodicals in the classroom not specifically designed for education are within the limitations of fair use. Incorporating music and movies in the lesson plans may not be considered fair use.

RULE #2:CHARACTER OF USE IS NONPROFIT Using copyrighted material in a lesson plan to enhance student learning is more likely to be considered fair use. Using copyrighted material for commercial gain or entertainment is not acceptable. For example, creating worksheets from copyrighted materials engage students into a lesson is not against the law; however, showing a movie might encourage its movie sales.

RULE #3:AMOUNT COPIED IS MINIMAL Using a smaller amount of the total work is more likely to be considered fair use than using a larger amount.

RULE #4:NO INTENT TO REPLACE ORIGINAL Imitated but never duplicated!

SEEKING PERMISSION TO USE MATERIALS In seeking permission to use copyrighted materials it is best to contact the distributor or publisher of the material. When seeking permission: #1.Be a specific as possible in providing pages numbers and exact amount of material you would like to print. #2.Fees related to reproduction of copyrighted materials are negotiable. #3.If you decided not to use the copyrighted materials you paid for immediately contact the publisher. #4.Obtain “royalty free” collections of media which you intent on using in the classroom. These are the conditions for using someone else’s words.

COPYRIGHT EXEMPTIONS FOR THE CLASSROOM? What are the guidelines for using a musical score in the classroom? Musical performance regarding music that is copyrighted is exempted if performed at a nonprofit function or if the profit of the even goes to education. What are the guidelines for using film in the classroom? The Federal Copyright Act The Federal Copyright Act (Title 17 of the U.S. Code) governs how copyrighted materials, such as movies, may be used. Neither the rental nor the purchase of a movie carries with it the right to show the movie publicly outside the home, unless the site where the movie is used is properly licensed for public exhibition. This legal copyright compliance requirement applies to public libraries, schools, daycare facilities, parks, recreation departments, summer camps, churches, private clubs, prisons, lodges, businesses, etc.

COPYRIGHT EXEMPTIONS FOR THE CLASSROOM? When items are posted to a website a creator should consider or watch out for the following possibilities: 1.Creating original images from drawing and painting programs 2.Taking images from third-parties is stealing 3.Licensed images from the Internet 4.Clip-art Libraries Provided with Software 5.Free Images Off the Internet.

COPYRIGHT MISHAPS IN THE EDUCATION 1.Converting analog materials to a digital format i.e. Converting VHS video into a digital format is PROHIBITED! 2.Converting copyrighted printed materials into digital format is PROHIBITED! 3.Converting copyrighted printed materials from one media to another is PROHIBITED! 4.Creating an audio recording of textbooks for student use (unless the student is legally blind) is PROHIBITED! When using multimedia in the classroom, these are the kinds of things that need to be considered when determining whether copyright has been adhered to.