This document discusses copyright law and what educators can legally use in their classrooms without obtaining permission. It notes that copyright law is complex with over 300 pages of regulations. Under fair use, educators can display and perform copyrighted works for educational purposes. The document outlines exceptions for educators under the TEACH Act and explains resources like public domain works, Creative Commons licensing, and collective rights organizations that allow more flexible use of copyrighted material. It provides guidelines for determining fair use and notes that widespread commercial use or use that replaces the original work would not be considered fair use.

1. COPYRIGHT
WHAT IS LEGAL....WHAT IS NOT?

2. Copyright Law
Today
When you understand it
fully could you please
let me know .....
Current Law is a 300+
page report
This creates a headache
for teachers who are Image courtesy of The Mary Sue
just trying to make
their instruction better

3. Liability
None the less as professional educators we
must make sure we abide by the rules....
If copyrighted material is used illegally
(despite innocent intentions) blame (lawsuits)
could be cast on:
- individual
or
- company

4. Special Provision
Th
for Educators TEA
e
C
H
Section 110(1) Section 110(2) Ac
t
Gave educators a ...however face-to-
separate set of face is no longer
rights to display the standard for
and perform other’s classrooms. The rule
works in the was changed to
classroom... incorporate
distance ed...
result = problem.

5. What can you use?
Public Domain
First it is important to understand that just
because you found it online it is not
necessarily free.
Second massive digitization projects are
happening right now to increase public
domain content (free)
resources

6. Creative Commons
Creative Commons Logo
According to their website, the Creative
Commons is a place to share you
creativity and knowledge with the world

7. Creative Commons
Creative Commons Logo
You can search the creative commons for
others’ works on the internet that can be
used safely.
Also should you post anything online
you can attach a creative commons
license so others can use it.

8. More than likely your school has
acquired certain licenses that provides
access to otherwise restricted content
You can also attempt to get permission
personally through:
Collective rights organizations
Image Archives
Motion Picture Licensing Corp.
Contacting the author
Check out this link to find more ways to obtain permission:
http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/permissn.html

9. Fair Use
The center for Social Media in partnership with the
Washington School of Law at American University are
developing a number of Fair Use Best Practices statements.
These statements are based of the most current court rulings.
Essentially when deciding whether or not you can use
something ask yourself these two questions:
Is the use you want to make of another’s work transformative
- that is does it add value to and repurpose the work for a
new audience?
Is the amount of material you want to use appropriate to
achieve your transformative purpose?

10. Fair Use
If for some reason the two questions from the previous slide
do not give you the peace of mind you are looking for you
can try to apply the four factors that make up the Fair Use
policy:
Favor use Favor permission
What is the character of the use? Criticism, repurposing, Commercial
commentary
What is the nature of the work to be Imaginative,
Fact, Published
used? unpublished
More than a small
How much of the work will you use? Small amount.
amount
Use is not
If this kind of use were widespread, what Original is out of
transformative, competes
effect would it have on the market for print, unavailable,
with original. avoids
the original or for permissions? unidentifiable owner
payment

11. Sources
The Mary Sue: www.themarysue.com
Creative Commons: creativecommons.org
Copyright Crash Course:
http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/index.html#build