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Copyright Crash Course

April Canales-Perez EDTC 6340.66

What is copyright?According to the U.S. Copyright Office Definitions O A form of protection provided by the laws of the

United States for "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, architectural, cartographic, choreographic, pantomimic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, and audiovisual creations.

O "Copyright" literally means the right to copy, but has come to mean that body of exclusive rights granted by law to copyright owners for protection of their work.

O Copyright protection does not extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, title, principle, or discovery. Similarly, names, titles, short phrases, slogans, familiar symbols, mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, coloring, and listings of contents or ingredients are not subject to copyright.

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Public DomainO Works in the public domain are no longer

under copyright protection or failed to meet requirements to be protected by copyright laws.

O These works can be used, shared and printed without the permission of the originator.

Orphan WorksO Are not copyrighted but are protected by the

Copyright Act because O The owner can not be identifiedO The owner can not be locatedO The date in which it would be placed in public

domain can not be determinedO Libraries are beginning to display orphan

works with special notice to the public that it can not be used for any purpose.

World Wide Web

O Copyright law governs the use of materials you find on the Internet, just as it governs the use of books, video or music

O People assume anything on the web is in public domain because the law would protect works only if they displayed proper copyright notice upon publicationO The law has change stating neither publication

nor a notice of any kind is required to protect works today

Implied and Express Licenses

O Implied licensesO Vital to the operation of the InternetO Boundaries are vague

O Express licenses O Spell out in detail what rights the author of a

work wants readers, viewers or listeners to have

O Creative Commons license is an example of an express license

Fair UseO Although fair use does not break copyrights

laws, fair use is very vague when it comes to explaining how much of the work can be used without asking permission. Just because you acknowledge the source does not mean you have their permission to use it.

Fair Use Factors

O The following guidelines can be found in Section 107 of the copyright laws in more detailO What is the character of the use?O What is the nature of the work to be used?O How much of the work will you use?O What effect would this use have on the

market for the original or for permissions if the use were widespread?

Teach Act

O Teach Act became law in late 2002O Allows educators to perform any work

related to the curriculum regardless of the medium face-to-face in the classroom. There is no limits and no permission required

O Distance education does not have all the freedom as a face-to-face class would

O Coverage of the law applies only toO Accredited nonprofit educational institutionsO Covers works an instructor would show or

play during class but not what students use on their own time outside class

Getting PermissionO It can be hard but depending on the type of

work there is steps that you can take.O Contact the author or publisher directly. If

unknown then some research will be needed to find copyright owners.

O It it possible for copyright owners to change. O Get written permissions that clearly

describes what you are permitted to do to the work.

ReferencesO Harper, Georgia K. (2001, 2007).

Copyright Crash CourseO htpp://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/O http://www.copyright.gov/