Mrs. Feliciano’s Guide to Understanding Copyright and Fair Use 3rd-6th Grade

What does “copyright” mean? Copyright- “the legal right to be the only one to reproduce, publish, or sell the contents and form of a literary, musical, or artistic work” Still kind of confused?

It means that when you use other people’s work you must give them credit and you must not steal other people’s work and say you did it.

So what kinds of things are copyrighted? Books Music and Song Lyrics Plays Pantomimes Pictures and Paintings Movies and Movie clips Video Games Computer Software Audio Recordings

What happens if I use someone else’s work and say it is my own? It is illegal! There are laws that protect copyrighted material. United States Copyright Office You could get in big trouble at school! If you use someone else’s work and say it is your own you could fail or face even more serious consequences!

What can I do to follow copyright laws? Understand what “fair use” means and apply it to all of your work. Cite your work to avoid plagiarism. You can use other people’s work in your own original work, you just have to know how to do it correctly.

Fair Use “The allowable use or reproduction of material without specific permission from the owner.” (Ko 400)

This means that... Work can be used for your own private use for school. If work is in the “public domain” (free to use) it can be used. Small amounts of work are used. You do not try to sell someone else’s work. (Ko )

Citing If you use someone else’s work you must cite it, or it is considered plagiarism. Plagiarism means that you have copied or used someone else’s work and not given them credit for it. Notice how I have quotations around some of my words, and different words in parentheses or websites? That means I got my information from someone else and I am giving them credit for it by citing.

Let’s test our knowledge! Alyssa has an assignment to do on Martin Luther King Jr. She waited until the last second and now she must turn in a 2 page paper tomorrow. She googles “Martin Luther King Jr.” and comes across a paper from another student. She thinks, just this one time I’ll “borrow” it and put my name on it. Is this plagiarism?

Yes it is! You can NEVER copy someone else’s work and say it is your own!! It is illegal and has serious consequences!

Let’s try another... You are creating a PowerPoint book report for English. You use pictures found on the internet of characters from the book, quotes from the book, and you cite all of your work. Are you following all copyright laws?

Yes!! You can use portions of other people’s work and pictures from the internet for school assignments, as long as you cite where your information came from.

Conclusion! Never use someone else’s work and say it is your own! Cite your work to avoid plagiarism! If you have questions on how to cite and what materials are copyrighted always ask your teacher or media specialist!

References Ko, Susan & Rossen, Steve. (2010) Teaching Online A Practical Guide. New York, NY: Routledge. Teaching Copyright. Electronic Frontier Foundation. United States Copyright Office. A Brief Introduction and History.