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What is copyright? Copyright is a form of legal protection automatically provided to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works for a limited time period (Teaching Copyright).

The laws have changed over the years, so it depends on when the music was published. Music published before 1923 is no longer protected by copyright laws. Music published between 1923 & 1978 is protected for 95 years Music published after 1978 is protected for the length of the life of the longest surviving author, plus another 70 years

Does this mean music is completely off limits for use in the classroom?! So it is practical to assume, the majority of music is protected by Copyright law. Not necessarily. Creative commons licenses and the Fair Use section of the Copyright Laws give students and teachers a little wiggle room.

What is a creative commons license? A creative commons license enables the creator to maintain legal rights, while allowing others to copy, distribute, or even alter their work. The use must be for non-commercial purposes and the user must give credit to the creator.

Presentation software, search engines, and image hosting sites, like Flickr, allow searches for exclusively creative commons licensed material. All the images in this presentation are from a creative commons Bing search accessed via PowerPoint.

According to CreativeCommons.org, the following sites offer music published under Creative Commons’ licenses:CreativeCommons.org ccMixter Free Music Archive Jamendo Magnatune Simuze BeatPick CASH Music SectionZ Opsound Podsafe Audio AudioFarm Internet Archive’s Netlabels Collection Internet Archive’s Netlabels Collection

The Copyright law does allow the “fair use” of copyrighted material for the purpose of research, comments, news, and... education What is fair use?

Fair use allows people other than the copyright owner to copy part or all of a copyrighted work, even without the copyright holder’s permission. What falls under fair use for music can be foggy, but if the basic melody is not changed, the music is not being used for commercial purposes, and only a portion of the music is used, it is probably okay.

Fair use allows up to 10%, but no more than 30 seconds, of the music to be incorporated into a multimedia project. The song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams is 3 minutes and 53 seconds long. So for this presentation, I could only play 30 seconds of the song.

The fair use exceptions for music apply to music that has been legally purchased. IMPORTANT:

You must always give credit to the original creator, even with creative commons and fair use. IMPORTANT:

Examples of fair use of music by students: a multimedia project for a specific course a multimedia project in a portfolio as an example of academic work; such as for a job or college interviews.

A multimedia presentation for other teachers or a workshop. Examples of fair use of music by teachers: An online educational instructional presentation for directed self-study or remote instruction; providing the technology requires a password or pin, and will not allow the making of copies. A multimedia presentation as part of a professional portfolio.

Examples of when permission for using music is required by students and teachers: Using a multimedia presentation for commercial use. Reproduction or distribution of a multimedia presentation for non- educational purposes. Multimedia presentations published online for public use or display.

Let’s see what you have learned!

Jane made a five minute screencast presentation with a timeline of the events of the 1970’s for her U.S. History class. The Bee Gee’s song “Staying Alive” played in the background throughout the screencast. Was this project a “fair use” of the song?

No. Even though Jane used the music in a presentation for school, the fair use section of the Copyright law states only 10% and no more than 30 seconds of a copyrighted song can be used.

Ms. Cory made a 10 minute video about the state of the country at the turn of the 20 th century for her U.S. History class. She posted the video for viewing on the class website, which does not require a password or pin number for access. In the video, she plays a popular song from 1899, “Cottonpickers Rag and Cakewalk” by William Braun, in its entirety. Was this project a “fair use” of the song?

Yes. The song she used was published prior to Its copyright has expired and is available for public use.

Joe finds a song he wants to use in a science PowerPoint. The song has a creative commons license that allows him to use it without violating the copyright. Joe does not name the song’s creator in his PowerPoint. Was Joe in violation of the Copyright law?

Yes. You must give attribution to the original creator or a song even if the use is allowed by a creative commons license.

Want to know more? Go to Teaching Copyright for a complete curriculum and teacher’s guide.Teaching Copyright And if you wish to use the materials in class, no problem! They are all creative commons!

Fair use guidelines for educational multimedia. (n.d.). Fair use guidelines for educational multimedia. Retrieved July 8, 2014, from Teaching Copyright. (n.d.). Copyright Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved July 7, 2014, from What Is Fair Use?. (n.d.). Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center What Is Fair Use Comments. Retrieved July 8, 2014, from References