Copyright Fundamentals

What is copyright? Copyright is a statutory privilege extended to creators of works fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright laws legally protect the potential monetary value of creative endeavors as a way of encouraging the producers of information and entertainment to publish their work, and thus to share it with others.

Copyright owners have exclusive rights to: Reproduce the work Prepare a derivative work Distribute the work Perform the work publicly Display the work publicly

Establishing Copyright In the USA, everything created privately and originally after April 1, 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not. (Berne Copyright Convention). Copyright is established the moment a work is fixed in tangible form and lasts until 50 years after the author dies.

Copyright notice Although not necessary, a notice of copyright helps strengthen the protection. The correct form of notice: “Copyright [dates] by [author/owner] You may use © in a circle instead of copyright but not (C) in parentheses.

Fair Use Four factors are to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use of a copyrighted work is fair: 1. Purpose and character of the use (nonprofit educational use vs. commercial purposes) 2. Nature of the copyrighted work 3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the work as a whole 4. Effect of the use upon potential market for value of the work.

Fair Use Purpose The intent of fair use is to allow for criticism, commentary, news reporting, research, education and parody about copyrighted works NOT to allow schools and educational institutions free rein to use copyrighted materials, especially if those works are published or viewed outside of the classroom.

Intellectual Property The term intellectual property refers to personal rights of ownership acquired originally or derivatively from intellectual creations. For example: copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

You do not have permission to photocopy if: Copying is done to create or replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations, or collective works. The item is consumable (i.e. workbooks) You are in any way substituting for purchasing books, periodicals, etc. You intend to charge the student more than what the item actually cost to copy. You intend to use it term after term.

Video Use at school must: Take place in a classroom or similar place of instruction. Be part of the regular instructional process, not recreational. Be in the course of face-to-face teaching activities. Be a lawfully-made or acquired copy.

Videotaping Guidelines Taped shows: Cannot be kept for more than 45 days after the recording date. Can only be shown within the first 10 days of that 45-day period. Can only be made through a teacher request, not in anticipation of a need. Can only be shown two times within a single class.

Videotaping Guidelines After 10 days the tapes can only be reviewed by the teacher for possible purchase and curriculum inclusion. Duplicate copies of the same program can be made to fill teacher requests. Tapes cannot be altered in any way. All copies must include copyright notice.

Videotaping Guidelines These guidelines apply only to nonprofit education institutions, which are expected to establish control procedures to make sure these guidelines are met.

Computer Software and CD-ROMs Only load software on the number of machines for which you have permission. Do not load drivers for CD-ROMs onto multiple machines. Upgrades of programs become your legal copies - discard earlier versions.

Computer Software and CD-ROMs Do not load school software onto home computers (and vice versa). Follow shareware and freeware rules. Old copies of software can be given away (and not used at school anymore). Multi-platform CD-ROM drivers can only be loaded onto the one platform of choice.

Computer Software and CD-ROMs You can legally use one program with one child or group of children as long as you’re only on one machine. Anything a student creates belongs to the student and not the school. Before loading a program on another computer it must first be deleted from the previous computer (for one license).

Computer Software and CD-ROMs If a school consolidates or moves to a new building, the software transfers as well. Purchasers are allowed to make one backup copy of software for archival purposes only. Keep all software licensing documentation.

What is a software license? A software license allows the purchaser to use the software under certain specified conditions. The license also stipulates what the purchaser may or may not do with the software.

Shareware Shareware allows users to try software before purchasing it. If it is found to be of use, the user then pays a fee to the shareware author. The fee paid is determined by the author (usually found in a “read me” file with the software) and is paid on the honor system.

Freeware The freeware software producer retains the copyright to the product however no fee is charged. Freeware generally comes with many of the restrictions found in shareware or fee licensed software.

Public Domain Items placed intentionally into public domain by the author/creator are not copyrighted. Material on which the copyright has expired is also considered public domain. Granting something to the public domain is a complete abandonment of all rights and derivative works can be made and copyrighted from public domain material.

Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines You may use: 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less, of a motion media work. 10% or 1,000 words, whichever is less, to incorporate into a multimedia project. Up to 10%, but never more than 30 seconds, of music and lyrics.

Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines You may use: No more than 5 images by the same artist or photographer. No more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, of a collective work. (photos and illustrations). Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cells, whichever is less, of a database.

Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines You may not have more than two useable copies of a project. As a teacher, you may keep projects for approximately two years. These guidelines apply to the classroom setting. Once you go outside that setting (i.e. to the Internet) you must obtain all appropriate permissions.

Copyright and the Internet Under the guidelines of copyright, media on the Internet is copyrighted—whether it expressly says so or not. Either ask and receive permission to use copyrighted materials on your Web site or use public domain or original media.

Linking to Web pages Like a street address, a URL for a Web page is not copyrightable. Therefore, listing a link on your Web site does not require permission. However, copying an entire list of links from another Web page could be.

Linking to Web pages You also might want to: Remove a link to another person’s Web page if asked to do so. Remove links to pages where you suspect the author(s) have included materials without the copyright owner’s permission.

Violation of Copyright Violation of copyright laws is usually a civil matter, resulting in lawsuits instead of criminal trials. However, if the case involves more than 10 copies and a value of over $2,500, it can be made a felony. Under U.S. law, infringement may result in civil damages of up to $100,000 and/or criminal penalties of up to five years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.