Professor Renee Hobbs introduces copyright and fair use to graduate students in the library and information studies program at the Harrington School of Communication and Media.

1. Yes You Can!
An Introduction to
Copyright and Fair
Use for Digital
Learning
Renee Hobbs
LSC 530 Texts and Tools for Children and Youth
Summer 2015
Why Copyright Matters for Librarians, Educators
and Media Professionals

2. WHEN STUDENTS USE COPYRIGHTED
MATERIALS IN THEIR ACADEMIC WORK

3. ILLUSTRATION

4. DIGITAL STORYTELLING
1. Develop a story, often in a collaborative process where feedback is provided
2. Compose a script.
3. Make an audio recording if desired.
3. Create or select images and sequence them in relation to the story
4. Use editing to assemble audio, text and images, adding music or transitions
5. Share final project with an authentic audience

5. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

6. Remix

7. Why do students use copyrighted materials in their own
creative work?

8. Technology
makes it easy
to:
Use and share
Copy
Modify & Repurpose
Excerpt & Quote From
Distribute

9. Owners
forcefully assert
their rights to:
Restrict
Limit
Charge high fees
Discourage use
Use scare tactics

10. See no Evil Close the Door Hyper-Comply
How Teachers Cope

11. NEGOTIATED AGREEMENTS BETWEEN MEDIA
COMPANIES AND EDUCATIONAL GROUPS
Problem:
Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-
for-Profit Educational Institutions
Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia
Guidelines for the Educational Use of Music
Educational Use Guidelines are Confusing!

12. The documents created by these negotiated
agreements give them “the appearance of positive
law. These qualities are merely illusory, and
consequently the guidelines have had a seriously
detrimental effect. They interfere with an actual
understanding of the law and erode confidence in the
law as created by Congress and the courts”
--Kenneth Crews, 2001
Educational Use Guidelines
are NOT the Law!

13. It’s time to
replace old
knowledge
with
accurate
knowledge

14. PLAGIARISM
Using other people’s creative
work by passing it off as your
own
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
A legal violation of the rights of authors,
who can control access to their creative
work
ATTTRIBUTION Citing Your
Sources

15. PLAGIARISM
Using other people’s creative
work by passing it off as your
own
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
A legal violation of the rights of authors,
who can control access to their creative
work
ATTTRIBUTION Citing Your
Sources
FINES & OTHER PENALTIES

16. PLAGIARISM
Using other people’s creative
work by passing it off as your
own
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
A legal violation of the rights of authors,
who can control access to their creative
work
ATTTRIBUTION Citing Your
Sources
FINES & OTHER PENALTIES

17. When & How to Cite Your Sources:
Teaching Attribution
 Academic Writing
 Video PSAs
 Poetry
 Informal Writing
 Documentary Film
 Journalism
 Websites
NORMS OF THE GENRE HOW TO USE SOURCES
 Summarizing
 Paraphrasing
 Direct Quotation

18. When & How to Cite Your Sources:
Teaching Attribution
 Academic Writing
 Video PSAs
 Poetry
 Informal Writing
 Documentary Film
 Journalism
 Websites
NORMS OF THE GENRE HOW TO USE SOURCES
 Summarizing
 Paraphrasing
 Direct Quotation

19. APA CITATION: Caramanica, J. (2010). At 40,
circling back to teenage life. New York Times,
August 27.
SUMMARY: The producer of 16 and Pregnant
has had a turbulent career after having a
successful early start in Hollywood followed
by a string of failures and personal problems.
Now that “16 and Pregnant” is a hit, he has a
mission to tell the complex life stories of
teenagers who are struggling with life
challenges (Caramanica, 2010).
PARAPHRASE: More than 2.4 million viewers
watch “16 and Pregnant” each week
(Caramanica, 2010).
DIRECT QUOTATION: Morgan J. Freeman has
helped “reposition MTV’s reality slate from
tracking the lives of the young, beautiful and
rich to capturing the lives of the young,
beautiful and resilient” (Caramanica, 2010, p.
D1).

20. What is the purpose of

21. To promote creativity,
innovation and the
spread of knowledge
Article 1 Section 8
U.S. Constitution

22. EVERYTHING
IS COPYRIGHTED

23. Creative Control
The Copyright Act grants five rights to
a copyright owner:
1. the right to reproduce the
copyrighted work;
2. the right to prepare derivative
works based upon the work;
3. the right to distribute copies of the
work to the public;
4. the right to perform the copyrighted
work publicly; and
5. the right to display the copyrighted
work publicly.

24. Copyright law enables people to
control the creative works
they produce
LOVE HATE

25. Violating Copyright Can Be Expensive
The Copyright holder may receive statutory damages for all infringements
involved in the action… not less than $750 or more than $30,000 as the court
considers just. [...]
When infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may
increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000."
LOVE HATE

26. EVERYTHING
IS COPYRIGHTED
…BUT THERE ARE
EXEMPTIONS

27. --Section 107
Copyright Act of 1976
The Doctrine of Fair Use
For purposes such as
criticism, comment,
news reporting, teaching (including multiple
copies for classroom use),
scholarship or research

28. The Doctrine of Fair Use
“It not only allows but encourages socially
beneficial uses of copyrighted works such as
teaching, learning, and scholarship. Without fair use,
those beneficial uses— quoting from copyrighted
works, providing multiple copies to students in class,
creating new knowledge based on previously
published knowledge—would be infringements. Fair
use is the means for assuring a robust and vigorous
exchange of copyrighted information.”
--Carrie Russell, American Library Association

30. Judges are more likely to rule that a particular use of copyrighted materials
Is a fair use when the social benefits of the unauthorized use outweigh the private
costs to the copyright holder

31. Bill Graham Archives vs. Dorling Kindersley,
Ltd. (2006)

32. An Example of Transformative Use
The purpose of the original:
To generate publicity for a
concert.
The purpose of the new
work: To document and
illustrate the concert
events in historical
context.

33. Fair Use Music Video

34. Using Copyrighted Materials in Creative Work
.
CASE 1. Someone teaching an online
graduate class demonstrates the best
practices of a storytime read-aloud by
creating an educational video that features
a teacher reading aloud from a picture
book.
CASE 2. Someone creates a video of a
children’s picture book by using images
from the picture book while reading aloud
to create a video.
CASE 3. Someone uses a variety of
different copyrighted images to create a
book trailer for a children’s picture book.

35. Sharing Creative Work Online
.
CASE 1. Someone uses
“Little Mermaid” image in a
personal blog writing about
childhood memories.
CASE 2. Someone uses a
“Little Mermaid” image in
online fan fiction about the
sexual adventures of Ariel.

36. Using Copyrighted Materials in Creative Work
. CASE 1. Someone uses an
image of John Lennon in a
class assignment when
discussing how musicians
share their political beliefs
with their fans.
CASE 2. Someone uses an
image of John Lennon on the
cover of the high school
literary magazine.

37. CREATIVE AUTHORS MUST ASK
CRITICAL QUESTIONS TO MAKE
A FAIR USE DETERMINATION
1. Did my use of the work re-purpose or
transform the copyrighted material? Did I
add value?
1. Did I merely re-transmit the original work?
Could my work serve as a substitute or
replacement for the original?
2. Did I use just the amount I needed in order to
accomplish my purpose?
Exercising Fair Use Reasoning
Involves Critical Thinking

38. Reflects the “best
practices” of
educators who use
copyrighted material
to build critical
thinking and
communication skills
Supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation

39. Educators can:
1. make copies of newspaper articles, TV shows, and other
copyrighted works and use them and keep them for educational
use
2. create curriculum materials and scholarship with copyrighted
materials embedded
3. share, sell and distribute curriculum materials with copyrighted
materials embedded
Learners can:
4. use copyrighted works in creating new material
5. distribute their works digitally if they meet the
transformativeness standard
Five Principles
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use

40. Organizations Supporting the Code of
Best Practices
Action Coalition for Media Education
(ACME)
National Association for Media Literacy
Education (NAMLE)
National Council of Teachers Of English
(NCTE)
Visual Studies Division
International Communication Association
(ICA)
Association of College and Research
Libraries (ACRL)

41. Educators Can Rely on Fair Use
National Council of
Teachers of English
(NCTE) has adopted the
“Code of Best Practices in
Fair Use for Media Literacy
Education” as its official
policy on fair use

42. USING COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
CHOICES FOR THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL
PAY A LICENSE FEE
Ask Permission
CLAIM FAIR USE
Just Use it
DON’T USE IT
SELECT PUBLIC DOMAIN,
ROYALTY-FREE or
CREATIVE COMMONS
LICENSED CONTENT

43. People need to ask
permission & pay a
license fee when
using copyrighted
materials for
promotional or
advertising
purposes

44. Licensing and Permissions

45. BE AWARE:
Licensing
Trumps
Fair Use

47. 1. Cease and desist
letter
2. Decide whether to
pursue legal action
3. File a lawsuit
4. Build a case using
evidence and
reasoning
5. Judicial decision
Judges determine fair use after
considering the context and situation
of the use in relation to the harms to
the copyright holder and the social
benefits of the unauthorized use.
Understanding the Legal Process

48. 1. RIPPING. Criminalizes the use of technology, devices, or services intended to
circumvent digital rights management (DRM) software that controls access to
copyrighted works.
2. ONLINE TAKEDOWNS. Protects Internet Service Providers against copyright liability if
they promptly block access to allegedly infringing material (or remove such material
from their systems) if notified by copyright holder; offers a counter-notification
provision if use is exempted under fair use
Digital
Millennium
Copyright Act
of 1998

49. Copyright Law Adapts
to Changes in Technology and Society

50. 1. RIPPING. Criminalizes the use of technology, devices, or services intended to
circumvent digital rights management (DRM) software that controls access to
copyrighted works.
2. ONLINE TAKEDOWNS. Protects Internet Service Providers against copyright liability if
they promptly block access to allegedly infringing material (or remove such material
from their systems) if notified by copyright holder; offers a counter-notification
provision if use is exempted under fair use
Digital
Millennium
Copyright Act
of 1998

52. The Results of our Advocacy
K-12 teachers may unlock DVDs protected by the
Content Scrambling System when circumvention is
for the purpose of criticism or comment

53. http://mediaeducationlab.com/copyright

54. Renee Hobbs
Media Education Lab
University of Rhode Island
Harrington School of Communication and
Media
Web: http://mediaeducationlab.com
Twitter: @reneehobbs