Answering TheCopyright Conundrum

for Educatorsby: Kim Mozley

What types of things are covered by copyright law?

Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 102 of the U.S. Code states:  (a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.(Circular 92, 2011)

These things include:• 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

What about things in the digital world?

Anything that is published on the internet that is not your original work carries an implied copyright.

So what is not protected by copyright law?

U.S. Copyright Law states, "any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work."(Circular 92, 2011)

How do I know if it is copyrighted material?

• Assume it is: if you can see it or touch it and you didn't create it, assume that it is copyrighted material.

• The law does not require works to display a copyright notice in order to be protected

• The moment something is transferred from an intangible form to a tangible form - it is protected.

The following is a chart created by Lolly Gasaway from the University of North Carolina that depicts when works will enter the public domain and can freely be used:http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm (Gasaway) 

So as an educator, what can I use?

EVERYTHING!!!

AND . . . .

NOTHING!!!

Educators have special rights under the copyright law . . .

Fair Use & The Teach Act

WHAT??

What is Fair Use?

Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright law lists several purposes for which a work can be reproduced under fair use:

criticismcomment

news reportingteaching

scholarshipsresearch

Fair Use gives teachers the permission to use a copyrighted work if certain conditions are met:

1. What is the purpose you are using it for? Does it align with the curriculum? 2. What is the nature of the work? Is it intended to be educational?

3. How much of the copyrighted material are you using in relation to the full size of the work? 4. What effect will your use of the work have on the potential value of the work?

What is The Teach Act?The Teach Act gives provisions to the realm of distance education in addition to face to face instruction.Certain criteria must be met for the Teach Act to apply: 1. The Teach Act only applies to a government body or an accredited nonprofit educational institution. 2. The institution must have a copyright policy in place for faculty and students. 3. The institution must also have information available to faculty and students about copyright and the material must stress the importance of abiding by copyright law. 4. It only applies to students officially enrolled in the course in which the transmission of copyrighted material will take place.

The TEACH Act Toolkit

North Carolina State University has come up with some great checklists for educators to help determine if the use of the material is granted under the TEACH Act. 

Click on the link above or go to:

http://www.provost.ncsu.edu/copyright/toolkit/implementation.php

So what can I use?

If it doesn't fall under the criteria for Fair Use or the TEACH Act then what do you do?Most teachers do not have time to wade through the copyright law quagmire of more than 360 pages. Thankfully, we can rely on the work of others that have done the research!! Here are some sources for material that can be freely used by educators:http://pics4learning.com/http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic98.htmhttp://search.creativecommons.org/

If all else fails . . . .  Get permission:

The Copyright Clearance Center can help you get permission

"So what are the chances you'll find yourself in court? Pretty slim -- although they increasedramatically if your use of a work interferes with the owner's potential income."(Starr, 2010)

Here are some very good resources for educators on copyright:

The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair UseKathy Schrock's Guide for Educators  Copyright Crash Course

  

QUESTIONS??

References

Circular 92. (2011, September). Copyright law of the united            states. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov                            /title17/ Gasaway, L. (n.d.). When u.s. works pass into the public            domain. Retrieved from http://www.unc.edu/~unclng             /public-d.htm  Starr, L. (2010, May 5). Is fair use a license to steal?.            Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com                           /a_curr/curr280b.shtm    

THANK YOU!

Thank you to http://openclipart.org/ for all the images used in this presentation.