This document provides guidelines for teachers on copyright and fair use of various media in educational settings. It includes a chart that outlines what types of printed material, illustrations, photographs, video, music, computer software, internet resources, television and more can be used under fair use guidelines. For each medium, it specifies the amount and type of content that can be used, whether copies can be made, attribution requirements, and other limitations. The document also briefly describes Creative Commons, a nonprofit that makes it easier for creators to share their works with others under certain licensing conditions. It lists several resources where teachers can find Creative Commons licensed images, video, sounds and music for use in classroom projects and presentations.

1. From the desk of Dolly W. Morris, HMS Media Specialist SY 12-13 Copyright,FairUse,& Creative CommonsTeacherInfo.
Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers
Thischart wasdesignedtoinformteachersof whattheymaydo underthe law.Feel free tomake copiesforteachersinyourschool ordistrict,or
downloadaPDF versionat www.techlearning.com.More detailedinformationaboutfairuse guidelinesandcopyrightresourcesisavailable at
www.halldavidson.net.
Medium Specifics What you can do The Fine Print
Printed Material
(short)
• Poem less than 250
words; 250-word
excerpt of poem greater
than 250 words
• Articles, stories, or
essays less than
2,500 words
• Excerpt from a longer
work (10 percent of work
or 1,000 words, whichever
is less)
• One chart, picture,
diagram, or cartoon per
book or per periodical
issue
• Two pages (maximum) from
an
illustrated work less than
2,500 words,
e.g., a children’s book
• Teachers may make
multiple copies for
classroom use, and
incorporate into
multimedia for
teaching classes.
• Students may
incorporate text into
multimedia projects.
• 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.
• Don’t create anthologies.
• “Consumables,” such as
workbooks,
may not be copied.
Printed Material
(archives)
• An entire work
• Portions of a work
• A work in which the
existing format
has become obsolete, e.g.,
a document
stored on a Wang computer
• A librarian may make
up to three
copies “solely for the
purpose of
replacement of a copy
that is damaged,
deteriorating, lost, or
stolen.”
• Copies must contain copyright
information.
• Archiving rights are designed
to allow
libraries to share with other
libraries
one-of-a-kind and out-of-print
books.
Illustrations
and Photographs
• Photograph
• Illustration
• Collections of
photographs
• Collections of
illustrations
• Single works may be
used in their entirety,
but no more than five
images by a single
artist or photographer
may be used.
• From a collection, not
more than 15 images or
10 percent (whichever is
• Although older
illustrations may be in
the public domain and don’t
need permission
to be used, sometimes they’re
part
of a copyright collection.
Copyright
ownership information is

2. From the desk of Dolly W. Morris, HMS Media Specialist SY 12-13 Copyright,FairUse,& Creative CommonsTeacherInfo.
less) may be used. available at
www.loc.gov or www.mpa.org.
Video
(for viewing)
• Videotapes
(purchased)
• Videotapes (rented)
• DVDs
• Laserdiscs
• Teachers may use
these materials in
the classroom.
• Copies may be made
for archival purposes
or to replace lost,
damaged,or stolen
copies.
• The material must be
legitimately
acquired.
• Material must be used in a
classroom
or nonprofit environment
“dedicated
to face-to-face instruction.”
• Use should be instructional,
not for
entertainment or reward.
• Copying OK only if
replacements are unavailable at
a fair price or in a viable
format.
Video
(for integration
into
multimedia or
video
projects)
• Videotapes
• DVDs
• Laserdiscs
• Multimedia
encyclopedias
• QuickTime Movies
• Video clips from the
Internet
• Students “may use
portions of lawfully
acquired copyright works
in their academic
multimedia,” defined as
10 percent or three
minutes (whichever is
less) of “motion media.”
• The material must be
legitimately
acquired (a legal copy, not
bootleg or
home recording).
• Copyright works included in
multimedia
projects must give proper
attribution
to copyright holder.
Music
(for integration
into
multimedia or
video
projects)
• Records
• Cassette tapes
• CDs
• Audio clips on the
Web
• Up to 10 percent of a
copyright musical
composition may be
reproduced, performed,
and displayed as part of
a multimedia program
produced by an educator
or students.
• A maximum of 30 seconds
per musical
composition may be used.
• Multimedia program must
have an
educational purpose.
Computer Software • Software (purchased)
• Software (licensed)
• Library may lend
software to patrons.
• Software may be
installed on multiple
machines, and distributed
to users via
a network.
• Only one machine at a time may
use
the program.
• The number of simultaneous
users must
not exceed the number of
licenses; and

3. From the desk of Dolly W. Morris, HMS Media Specialist SY 12-13 Copyright,FairUse,& Creative CommonsTeacherInfo.
• Software may be
installed at home and at
school.
• Libraries may make
copies for archival use or
to replace lost, damaged,
or stolen copies if
software is unavailable at
a fair price or in a
viable format.
the number of machines being
used
must never exceed the number
licensed.
A network license may be
required for
multiple users.
• Take aggressive action to
monitor that
copying is not taking place
(unless for
archival purposes).
Internet • Internet connections
• World Wide Web
• Images may be downloaded
for
student projects and
teacher lessons.
• Sound files and video
may be downloaded for use
in multimedia projects
(see portion restrictions
above).
• Resources from the Web may not
be
reposted onto the Internet
without
permission. However, links to
legitimate
resources can be posted.
• Any resources you download
must have
been legitimately acquired by
the Website.
Television • Broadcast (e.g.,
ABC, NBC, CBS,
UPN, PBS, and local
stations)
• Cable (e.g.,
CNN,MTV, HBO)
• Videotapes made of
broadcast and
cable TV programs
• Broadcasts or tapes made
from broadcast may be used
for instruction.
• Cable channel programs
may be used
with permission. Many
programs may
be retained by teachers
for years—
see Cable in the Classroom
(www.ciconline.org) for
details.
• Schools are allowed to retain
broadcast
tapes for a minimum of 10 school
days.
(Enlightened rights holders,
such asPBS’s
ReadingRainbow, allow for much
more.)
• Cable programs are technically
not
covered by the same guidelines
as
broadcast television.
Sources: United States Copyright Office Circular 21; Sections 107, 108, and 110 of the Copyright Act (1976) and subsequent
amendments, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia; cable systems
(and their associations); and Copyright Policy and Guidelines for California’s School Districts,California Department of
Education. Note: Representatives of the institutions and associations who helped to draw up many of the above guidelines
wrote a letter to Congress dated March 19,1976,stating:“There may be instances in which copying that does not fall within
the guidelines stated [above] may nonetheless be permitted under the criterion of fair use.”

4. From the desk of Dolly W. Morris, HMS Media Specialist SY 12-13 Copyright,FairUse,& Creative CommonsTeacherInfo.
What is CreativeCommons?
Since Copyright protection limits free use of many works, it can sometimes be difficult to find sources for teacher or student projects
and multimedia presentations. Fortunately, Creative Commons allows users to share images, music, video and other creations freely.
Established in 2001, Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation, whose purpose is to make it easier for people to share, mix and
build upon the works of others. Utilizing six main licenses, creators freely share their work under certain conditions and uses, or
dedicate them to the public domain. Depending upon the license, users can use works in collaborative ways and then, publish and
license their final product.
To learn more about utilizing Creative Commons…
Get Creative and Wanna Work Together.
primary Creative Commons licenses.
What are some resources for Creative Commons?
Images: Pics4Learning, a site that has donated images for teacher and student use.
Video: Blip.tv, a video hosting website, which allows users to search by CC license.
Sounds: SoundBible.com, the “Encyclopedia of Sounds,” allows users to make requests of the online community and contains
royalty free sounds effects that are either in the public domain or have CC Attribution licensing. SoundTransit, an original German
phonography project, is now an international collaborative online community that provides field recordings with CC Attribution licensing.
Music and spoken word: CC Mixter, a community website for music and spoken word audio clips. American Music, a subscription
based database that offers copyright free music, requires a login (ocps) and password (copyright).
Audio, video, text: Internet Archive, founded in 1996 and widely known for the Wayback Machine, the Internet’s archived web page
history, is a non-profit Internet Library that continues to add resources. Full text is available for public domain books through Project
Gutenberg and other collections. The audio database includes recordings from The Grateful Dead and historic radio programs, as live
recordings are of particular interest to the Archive. The video database collection contains classic movies and user created files. Usage
rights vary on the site, due to the large collections and sources.
Sounds, video, and images: Wikimedia Commons, formatted similarly to Wikipedia, is a user created wiki that serves as a “media
file repository.” Each file is individually licensed by its contributor.

5. From the desk of Dolly W. Morris, HMS Media Specialist SY 12-13 Copyright,FairUse,& Creative CommonsTeacherInfo.
©Further Resources…..
For the Teacher…
UnitedStates Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/
Fair Use Evaluator for determiningcopyright exceptions.
Copyright Test – Use This toHelp DetermineFair Use: http://www.thecopyrightsite.org/test/index.html
Copyright forTeachers: http://vcuhvlibrary.uhv.edu/studyguides/copyright.htm
-7: Guidelines for Use of CopyrightedMaterials
Real-life Copyright Examples – Great forClassroomUse: http://www.benedict.com/
Cable in the Classroom– Digital Ethics: http://www.ciconline.org/Resource/digital-ethics-section-5or Copyright & Recordingfr.Cable in CR http://www.ciconline.org/Legal/CopyrightRecordingGuidelines
PBS’ extendedrecordingrights for K-12schools
Copyright & Teachingwith Movies: http://www.teachwithmovies.org/copyright.html
CutesyThings for Students…
A Fair(y) Use Tale.
Fair Use Harbor Tutorial – Start by Clicking“Audio-Visual Lagoon”http://www.stfrancis.edu/cid/copyrightbay/fairuse.htm
Copyright forKids: http://www.copyrightkids.org/
Copyright WithCyberbee: http://www.cyberbee.com/copyrt.html
For the MediaSpecialist…
TeachingCopyright? Full curriculum resources, includingquizzes.
teachingresources andvideos.
Copyright Law& Media Literacy: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/Final_CSM_copyright_report.pdf
PodcastingCopyright: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Podcasting_Legal_Guide