What you need to know about Copyright

Copyright Infringement a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time. Copyright infringement  the use of works protected by copyright law without permission, infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works.

Infringement Penalty Infringer pays the actual dollar amount of damages and profits. The law provides a range from $200 to $150,000 for each work infringed. Infringer pays for all attorneys fees and court costs. The Court can issue an injunction to stop the infringing acts. The Court can impound the illegal works. The infringer can go to jail.

What is fair use? Any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Can be used without permission from the copyright owner Fair use is generally a short excerpt and almost always attributed. Facts and ideas can't be copyrighted, but their expression and structure can. You can always write the facts in your own words Fair use is divided into 2 categories Commentary and Criticism Parody

Commentary, Criticism, and Parody Commenting upon or critiquing a copyrighted work Fair Use allows you to reproduce some of the work Quoting some lines from a song in a music review. Copying a few paragraphs from a news article for use by a teacher. Parody Fairly extensive use of original work is allowed

Fair Use Guidelines for Multimedia Text Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or 1000 words, whichever is less Music Up to 10% of a copyrighted musical composition, but no more than 30 seconds Any alterations cannot change the basic melody or the fundamental character of the work Film Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or 3 minutes, whichever is less

Guidelines to Using Off-air Taping in the Classroom A classroom teacher who wants a particular program taped should ask the school to record it. The recording may be shown only during the first ten consecutive school days after it is made, and only in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction. A limited number of copies may be made from each off-air recording. Each copy is subject to all the provisions governing the original recording. The recording may not be altered in any way. For example, recordings may not be edited to create an anthology or compilation. After the ten-day classroom use period expires, the recording may be used only for evaluation -- that is, to determine whether it should be bought or licensed for permanent inclusion in the teaching curriculum. Not later than 45 calendar days after the material was recorded, it must be destroyed. Only programs broadcast to the general public may be recorded. This includes all programs broadcast to homes and schools. The guidelines do not apply to programs available only from cable television services such as Showtime, HBO, The Disney Channel, C-Span ,and ESPN.

Getting Permission When work you wish to use is protected and has not been licensed for your use online and your use is not a fair use or exempt from liability of infringement, you will need permission. Begin the process of getting consent from a copyright owner to use the owner’s creative material by following these 5 steps: Determine if permission is needed Identify the owner Identify the rights needed Contact the owner and negotiate whether payment is required Get your permission agreement in writing

References https://www.american.edu/library/documents/upload/Copyright_for_Teaching.pdf http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/videotape-classroom-copyright-law-29958.html http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/introduction/getting-permission/ http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/