Copyright Law A reason not to be a teacher. Be afraid.

Why do we have copyright law Copyright law means “that an author of a work may reap the fruits of his or her intellectual creativity for a limited period of time.” (U.S. Copyright Office) In Current US copyright law a limited period of time generally translates to until all who were alive at the time the work was created have died as copy rights go for 70 years after the death of the creator or 120 years from creation for copy created for a corporation. Today copyright has nothing to do with the original intent and instead is something for teachers to fear and be very careful about.

What happens when someone uses copyrighted material? In 2013 a Dutch math teacher posted links to a location with answers to test that students in his class had been taking. This was done so the students could check their answers for the questions in the books that had been purchased legally. The math teacher did not put the files on the internet, just the location. (TorrentFreak.com) The book publisher took the teacher to court and the teacher had to pay the legal expenses to the book publisher because the answer to math equations had been copyrighted and the publisher thought some of his students might have purchased the book if he did not show them the location of the answers. (TorrentFreak.com)

If copyright law is so scary why should teachers use any information outside of school provided books The world is constantly changing and we need information from many sources to teach children today. There are exceptions to copyright that allow use of copyrighted material. If a teacher is careful and understand the risks there are ways to use material created by other to assist in education, This is called Fair Use

What is Fair Use? According to Stanford University “fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work.” (Stanford) Columbia has a fair use checklist including some arguments favoring fair use as: Teaching, Restricted Access, a Published work, with small quantity, User owning a lawfully purchased or acquired copy, and one or few copies made.(Columbia)

Is this fair use? Captain America, the winter soldier [Motion picture on DVD]. (2014). Distributed by Walt Disney. It appears to be because: This is an assignment so I qualify for a student, The clip is less than 3 minutes or 10 percent of the movie, I own the movie, it is cited, and I did not sell it.

Is this fair use? Yes Because It is less than less than 10 percent of the song It is less than 30 seconds The program has an educational purpose The song is cited Harrison, George. (1969). Here Comes the Sun[Recorded by The Beatles.]. On Abbey Road [CD] Apple Records (1969).

Is this fair use “Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that. “(Thoreau) It is not fair use, but it is legal because Henry David Thoreau published prior to 1923 this is now in the public domain.

Another thing to know about fair use While the idea of fair use is old, the US government thinks it would be wise for anyone claiming it to contact a lawyer before using material that they claim is fair use. Per the us copyright office webpage” Although the Fair Use Index should prove helpful in understanding what courts have to date considered to be fair or not fair, it is not a substitute for legal advice. Fair use is a judge-created doctrine dating back to the nineteenth century and codified in the 1976 Copyright Act. Both the fact patterns and the legal application have evolved over time, and you should seek legal assistance as necessary and appropriate.” (About Fair Use)

The Main Points Each type of media has different specifics The general rules are: This is for education, parody, or other accepted uses The amount of work used (often times less than 10 percent or 3 minutes) The nature of the use Did the author or copyright holder lose money or the ability to sell their product because of your use? Of course cite the material

It’s all about the money Make sure you don’t make any money from it. Make sure that the author did not lose money because of someone seeing what you did. The Dutch math teacher case shows what the US Copyright office says when they say fair use was created by the courts and changes over time. You cant rely on it. It is only a court defense. Be careful

Works cited About the Fair Use| U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, Captain America, the winter soldier [Motion picture on DVD]. (2014). Distributed by Walt Disney. Columbia University. (n.d.). Fair Use Checklist. Retrieved June 7, David Thoreau, H. (1995). Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience. Project Guttenberg. Harrison, George. (1969). Here Comes the Sun[Recorded by The Beatles.]. On Abbey Road [CD] Apple Records (1969). Math Teacher Convicted for Linking to Pirated Answer Sheets | TorrentFreak. (2013, January 16). Retrieved June 5, Stanford University. (2013, April 4). What Is Fair Use? Retrieved June 7, U.S. Copyright Office - Information Circular. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2015.