1. Copyright and Technology
Rebecca R. Craft
LIB 5050: Information and Management Technologies in Libraries and School Media Centers

2. WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.
The owner of copyright has the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:
To reproduce
To prepare derivative works
To distribute copies
To perform the work publicly
To display the copyrighted work publicly

3. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors, but "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." To this end, copyright assures authors the right to their original expression, but encourages others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work. This result is neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means by which copyright advances the progress of science and art.

4. Is copyright law the same for words, pictures, movies, music and software?
Yes, for the most part. Even though it is easy to download and reproduce materials on the Web that doesn't make it lawful. Copyright law does deal differently with various media like music and software, but the basic principles are the same.

5. Four laws that are important for multimedia developers.
Copyright law, which protects original "works of authorship."
Patent law, which protects new, useful, and "non-obvious" inventions and processes.
Trademark law, which protects words, names, and symbols used by manufacturers and businesses to identify their goods and services.
Trade secret law, which protects valuable information not generally known that has been kept secret by its owner.

6. What works are protected?
literary works
musical works, including any accompanying words
dramatic works, including any accompanying music
pantomimes and choreographic works
pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
motion pictures and other audiovisual works
sound recordings
architectural works

7. Public Domain
The Public Domain is all works that for whatever reason are not protected by copyright.
Works of Public Domain may be used without permission.
The public domain contains all works for which the statutory copyright period has expired.
Federal documents and publications are not copyrighted, and therefore are considered to be in the Public Domain.
Copyrightable works may also enter the public domain if the copyright owner grants the work to the public domain.

8. Almost everything on the Internet is protected by copyright law.
“The Internet has been characterized as the largest threat to copyright since its inception.”
Almost everything on the Internet is protected by copyright law.

9. Frequently Asked Questions
If I see something and it doesn't have a copyright notice, does that automatically mean I can use it? No. A copyright notice is not required in order to have copyright protection.
If I use somebody's work without permission but give credit to the author or publisher, am I still infringing on copyright? Probably. Giving credit is great, but nothing in the copyright law says that it somehow absolves you of infringement.
Am I infringing on copyright even if I don't make money from using somebody else's material? Probably. Nothing in the copyright law says that not making money absolves you of infringement.

10. Fair Use
Fair use allows use of portions of copyrighted materials in face-to-face teaching, personal discussion and research, and news reporting.
Freedom of access to information, regardless of its format, is essential for the creative and learning processes.
Fair Use permits educators to meet the unpredictable demands of teaching, learning, and scholarship, regardless of information format, learning environment, or mode of delivery.
“The genius of United States copyright law is that, in conformance with its constitutional foundation, it balances the intellectual property interests of authors, publishers and copyright owners with society's need for the free exchange of ideas.”

11. Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers
A very useful chart designed to inform teachers of what they may do under the law was developed by Technology and Learning magazine.
Link to Chart
To rotate the chart after opening, Click View – Rotate Clockwise.

12. Without infringing copyright, the public has a right to expect:
* to read, listen to, or view publicly marketed copyrighted material privately, on site or remotely;
* to browse through publicly marketed copyrighted material;
* to experiment with variations of copyrighted material for fair use purposes, while preserving the integrity of the original;
* to make or have made for them a first generation copy for personal use of an article or other small part of a publicly marketed copyrighted work or a work in a library's collection for such purpose as study, scholarship, or research; and
* to make transitory copies if ephemeral or incidental to a lawful use and if retained only temporarily.

13. Users, libraries, and educational institutions have a right to expect:
that the terms of licenses will not restrict fair use or other lawful library or educational uses
that U.S. government works and other public domain materials will be readily available without restrictions and at a government price not exceeding the marginal cost of dissemination; and
that rights of use for nonprofit education apply in face-to-face teaching and in transmittal or broadcast to remote locations where educational institutions of the future must increasingly reach their students.

14. Without infringing copyright, libraries should be able:
to use electronic technologies to preserve copyrighted materials in their collections;
to provide copyrighted materials as part of electronic reserve room service;
to provide copyrighted materials as part of electronic interlibrary loan service; and
to avoid liability, after posting appropriate copyright notices, for the unsupervised actions of their users.

15. Useful Websites
Digital Images Fair Use Guidelines A Summary of Concerns (Association of Research Libraries) -
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) -
Copyright Society of the USA -
Digital Future Coalition -
Copyright & Fair Use, Stanford University Libraries -
Digital Images and Fair Use Web Sites (Maryly Snow) - portland.htm
United States Copyright Office -
Copyright Website -
Copyright and Fair Use in the Classroom, on the Internet and the World Wide Web -