This document provides an overview of copyright law, including what is and is not protected, rights afforded to copyright holders, exceptions under fair use, and consequences for violations. Copyright protects original creative works and provides exclusive rights to copy, distribute, perform and create derivatives. A work is automatically copyrighted when created in a fixed form. Formal registration provides additional protections for copyright holders. Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted works for educational purposes without permission. Violations, such as illegally downloading thousands of songs, can result in substantial monetary judgments.

1. Copyright
Prof P. Charles Livermore
718 990 5330

2. Copyright
Constitution of the United States
Article 1 Section 8
To promote the progress of science and useful
arts, by securing for limited times to authors
and inventors the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries

3. Introduction
• Copyright What are your rights
• Exceptions to copyright.
• Protections under copyright
• Length of copyright protection
Note: This presentation is for information purposes only – it should not be construed as offering legal advice.

4. So What is copyright?
Copyright is the law that
protects
your work from being
copied and reproduced
without your permission.

5. How does copyright work?
Copyright is a set of
Exclusive rights given to an author or creator.

6. - Rights -
Only the copyright holder
1. Can copy
2. Can create derivatives
3. Can distribute copies
4. Can perform
And these rights are not bound together.
Each can be treated separately.

7. What can you do with these rights.
Sell them
Lease them
Rent them
Give them away
But once you have given up your copyright the material you created is
no longer yours to use except with the permission of the entity which
now owns the copyright.
So negotiate your contract wisely.

8. When is an item copyrighted?
A work is copyrighted the moment it is put in some kind of physical form. It is not
necessary to formally file your creation with the Copyright Office. Note – Ideas
are not copyrightable.
Advantages of Formal Filing with the Copyright Office.
1. Must be formally registered to litigate a copyright violation.
2. Formal registration within three months opens the door to the recovery of
statutory damages and attorneys’ fees versus only the ability of recovering
actual damages. (which can be difficult to prove)
3. If registration is accomplished within 5 years of copyright creation and/or
publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence of the validity of
the copyright.
4. Prompt registration of your copyright, coupled with providing the world with
proper notice of the copyright will enhance your ability to argue that an
infringer’s use of your work was willful, opening the door to a punitive
damages award.

9. Not everything that is put to paper, or other
physical media, is copyright protected!
It must be an original creation.
Take a look at a list of U.S. Presidents.

11. http://www.american-history-fun-facts.com/list-of-us-presidents.html

12. FAIR USE DOCTRINE
Chap 17 Section 107
This is the portion of the law that sets forth the conditions under
which you can use copyrighted materials without receiving
permission.
Fair Use is not an exception to the law.
Fair use is a defense against an accusation of copyright violation.
This means that there is no risk-free use of copyright materials.
In academia the risk has proven to be low – but faculty members
have been sued for use of copyrighted materials.

13. FAIR USE DOCTRINE
The following considerations are used by judges in determining whether use
of copyrighted material without permission is within FAIR USE.
1. PURPOSE: Non-profit & educational uses support FAIR USE.
2. NATURE: Factual, nonfiction works more likely to fall within FAIR USE
Non-fiction materials fall more narrowly into FAIR USE
3. AMOUNT: The smaller the better.
4. EFFECT: If use competes with the market place - hard to justify FAIR USE.
Does your use negatively affect the sale of the item you are using?
REMEMBER:
Fair use is NOT an exception to the law – it is used as a defense should you
be accused of violating the copyright of another person.

14. Students and Copyright
• For the completion of class assignments
students appear to have great latitude under
FAIR USE.
– It’s educational and not-for-profit
– They are likely to use small portions of any work
being discussed
– Their impact on the market is likely to be close to
zero.

15. Motion Pictures
§ 110 Limitations on exclusive rights:
Exemption of certain performances and displays
• Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, the following
are not infringements of copyright:
• performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in
the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit
educational institution, in a classroom or similar place
devoted to instruction

16. As a teacher what are the risks of placing items on
Library reserves:
a book you or the library owns - (little risk)
a photocopy of a whole book (high risk)
links to articles in library databases (little risk)
items to which you own the copyright (no risk)
a photocopy of an article from a journal or magazine
or newspaper. (under limited conditions) (little risk)
photocopy of a small portion of a book (little risk)

17. Completing the Fair Use Questionnaire found at:
http://campusguides.stjohns.edu/copyright
will help you to determine if your use of copyrighted
material is within Fair Use guidelines.

18. To minimize risk
Keep the copyrighted material you are using for
your classes
password protected
Blackboard ----- eReserves
Two good tools to use for this purpose
Both require passwords

19. HOWEVER
Many classes encourage the use of electronic media to
create a student portfolio.
ePortfolios --- websites
If a student’s ePortfolio, website or other use is made
available to the public it may no longer be covered under
fair use guidelines or other exemptions.
When making copyrighted materials accessible to the public
the student should examine each use of a copyrighted item
to determine if its public display falls within a legitimate use
of copyrighted material.

20. Citations/Footnotes
The use of footnotes or giving attribution to the
creator of a copyrighted work does NOT equal
compliance with copyright law. They are
separate and distinct.

21. A Student’s Own Work
Is copyrighted and has the same copyright protections as any
copyrighted work.
If you wish to use a student’s work beyond grading it you need to
seek permission of the student.
If you wish to display it, use it as a good or bad example seek the
permission of the student before using the work.
The next slide shows a permission form that is available at:
http://campusguides.stjohns.edu/copyright

22. STUDENT PERMISSION AND WAIVER FORM
Because under the copyright law of the United States (Title 17 of the U.S. Code) all authors of original expression,
including students, hold a copyright in their expression immediately upon its “fixation,”
and
Because the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 establishes the rights of students with
regard to educational records, making provision for inspection, review and amendment of educational records by
the students and requiring, in most instances, prior consent from the student for disclosure of such records to third
parties.
This waiver and permission form is designed to make it possible for the educational project described below to use
specific work(s) created by ____________________________________, a student at St. John’s University.
WAIVER AND PERMISSION FORM
I, the undersigned student (or parent/guardian if the student is under 18 years of age) understand that St. John’s
University would like to use [insert brief but specific description of the work]
I created while a student as part of the following project:
[describe the project, include how the works that make up the project will be accessed and by whom]
I further understand that I hold the copyright in this work that I created, and also that I have the right, under the
FERPA law, to prevent its release to third parties. In order to participate in the project described above, I hereby
_____Grant a non-exclusive license to St. John’s University to reproduce and distribute my copyrighted work as part
of the project. This permission includes the right to modify my work to conform to the goals of the project and to
reformat it as necessary to preserve its perceptibility and usefulness.
_____ Consent to the disclosure of the work described above, as an educational record subject to FERPA privacy
protection, to any and all third parties who may use the project throughout the life of the project.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________
Student name (please print) Signature of student OR parent/guardian Date
adapted from the Student Permission form - copyright Kevin Smith, Lisa A. Macklin, Anne Gilliland and used under a Creative Commons Attribution/Share-alike license (CC bySA)

23. Violation of Copyright
• A high school student named Joel Tenebaum used Napster to download
songs – lots of them.
• When Napster was shutdown Tenebaum moved on to other similar sites.
• He went on to college and continued to upload and download thousands
of songs.
• Sony discovered him - gave him warning to stop - he ignored the warning.
• Sony took Mr. Tenebaum to court for 30 songs he downloaded.
• The jury returned a judgment of $675,000 against Tenebaum.
• $22,500 per song
• The U.S. Copyright Act, at 17 U.S.C. 504(c) and on, provides awards ranging
from $750 to $150,000 for each instance of willful copyright infringement.
• In September 2011 this judgment amount was upheld.
• (http://timothycornellesq.wordpress.com/ )

24. http://creativecommons.org/
With a Creative Commons license, you keep your
copyright but allow people to copy and distribute your
work provided they give you credit — and only on the
conditions you specify

25. For More Information
http://campusguides.stjohns.edu/copyright
or call
Prof P. Charles Livermore
718 990 5330
livermop@stjohns.edu