1. What is copyright?
Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution.
Rights exist for only a limited time. The exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use.
A major limitation on copyright is that copyright protects only the original expression of ideas, and not the underlying ideas themselves

2. Works protected by copyright
Copyright is a form of intellectual property, applicable to certain forms of creative works including:
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 plans, drawings and actual buildings

3. Copy right violation in literary works
Copyright infringement is the use of literary works protected by copyright law without permission,
Such use infringes upon the copyright holder’s right, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works.
. The copyright holder is typically the work's creator, or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has been assigned.

4. Copyright & Fair Use: Definition of Fair use
The practical effect of the fair use doctrine is that a number of conventional uses of copyrighted works are not considered infringing. For instance, quoting from a copyrighted work in order to criticize or comment upon it or teach students about it, is considered a fair use.

5. Definition of Fair Use cont’d
In its most general sense, a 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. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.

6. The Four Factors of Fair Use
the purpose and character of the use. `
the nature of the copyrighted work.
the amount and substantiality used.
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

7. The Transformative Factor: The Purpose and Character of Use
If a literary piece of work was used to produce a transformative product and not just copied verbatim, according to a supreme court case of 1994, it would meet the fair used test. In assessing the level of transformative factor, two key questions must be asked:
Has the material taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning?
Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights, and understandings?

8. The Nature of the Copyrighted Work
There is a stronger case for fair use when the copied literary work involves facts such as a biography than when it involves fiction as in plays and novels because the dissemination of facts benefits the public.

9. The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Taken
The less work is copied, the more likely the copied material will be excused as fair use provided the work copied is not the heart of the original work

10. The Effect of the Use Upon the Potential Market
Another important fair use factor is whether the use deprives the copyright owner of income or undermines a new or potential market for the copyrighted work.
Depriving a copyright owner of income is very likely to trigger a lawsuit. This is true even if the intent is not to compete directly with the original work.

11. Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers
Teachers may make multiple copies of articles, stories, or essays less than 2,500
words for classroom use, and incorporate into multimedia for teaching classes.
Students may incorporate text into multimedia projects.

12. Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers
Copies may be made only from legally acquired originals. • Only one copy allowed per student. • Teachers may make copies in nine instances per class per term. • Usage must be “at the instance and inspiration of a single teacher,” i.e., not a directive from the district. • Anthologies may not be created • “Consumables,” such as workbooks, may not be copied.

13. Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers
A librarian may make up to three copies of an entire work, portions of a work, work in which the existing format has become obsolete, e.g., a document stored on a Wang computer “solely for the purpose of replacement of a copy that is damaged, deteriorating, lost, or stolen.”

14. References www.legalzoom.com