2. Why do I need to worry about
copyright?
Copying and distributing others’ copyrighted works can generate
lawsuits. The fact that numerous lawsuits have been filed against
individuals for file-sharing makes it apparent that individuals can be
held accountable for violating copyright law (Harper, 2007).
According to Harper (2007), “Universities and libraries can also be
liable for the actions of their employees doing their jobs and
possibly students who access the Internet through university
machines” (Liability for Posting Infringing Works, para. 1). It’s
therefore important that institutions monitor those that use their
networks (Harper, 2007).
3. What can I use without getting
sued?
You can use anything in the public domain (Harper, 2007).
Fair use statutes protect certain uses of materials (Harper,
2007).
You can use anything with a creative commons license
within certain guidelines (Harper, 2007).
You can use anything you have permission to use (Harper,
2007).
Most things you find on the web will have an implied license
(Harper, 2007).
4. If it’s free on the internet, I can use it right?
No. Once you write anything down, it’s copyrighted.
Even if you display it on the internet (Harper, 2007).
You no longer need a copyright mark or a publishing
company for something to be copyrighted material
(Harper, 2007).
5. What’s in the Public Domain?
Public Domain Protected
“Any works published on or before
December 31, 1922 is now in the
public domain” (Harper, 2007, First
Steps, para. 4).
“Works published between January 1, 1923
and December 31, 1978, inclusive are
protected for a term of 95 years from the
date of publication, with the proper notice”
(Harper, 2007, First Steps, para.4).
Works published between 1923 and
December 31, 1963, which the
copyright owner did not renew
(Harper, 2007)
Works written after 1978 are
protected for the lifetime of the
author plus 70 years (Harper, 2007).
“Finally, those works that were created
before December 31, 1978 but were
never published are now protected for
the life of the author plus 70 years”
(Harper, 2007, First Steps, para. 4).
6. What is Fair use?
According to the Center for Social Media (2013),“Fair use is
the right, in some circumstances, to quote copyrighted
material without asking permission or paying for it”(Fair Use,
para.1).
According to Harper (2007), determining if something is fair
use boils down to 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 -- and is
the amount of material you want to use appropriate to
achieve your transformative purpose?”(What is Fair Use, para.
1).
7. Transformative and appropriate
Transformative means, in a nut shell, you are using it
for a new purpose. You are creating something that is
your own based on someone else’s work. (Harper,
2007)
Appropriate means that you use no more of
someone else’s work than you need to. Don’t copy an
entire chapter, when a paragraph will make your point
easily. (Harper, 2007)
8. Creative Commons License
A Creative Commons license is an explicit license in
which you are proactively granting other people the
right to use your work in specific ways (Harper,
2007).
To search for works protected with a Creative
Commons license go to creativecommons.org.
9. When in doubt Get permission!
According to Harper (2007), if the work you need to use is
protected, you need to get permission from the copyright
holder to use it.
One of the easiest ways to get permission is to use
Copyright Clearence Center (
http://www.copyright.com/content/cc3/en/toolbar/getPermission
)
Make sure you protect yourself! According to Harper
(2007),“Ideally, your permission should be in writing and
should clearly describe the scope of what you are being
permitted to do” (Written Permission, para. 1)
10. What’s an implied license?
When authors publish to the internet, the assumption is
that other people are going to read and possibly use
their work (Harper, 2008).This is the basis of an implied
license.
According to Harper (2007),“just by posting, an author
impliedly grants a limited license to use her work in this
manner”(The saving grace: implied and express licenses
to use Internet materials, para 1). So as long as we give
credit to the original source, it should be safe to use
(Harper, 2007).
11. What about ideas and processes?
According to Harper (2007),“Facts,
ideas, processes, methods, and systems described in copyrig
”(First Steps, para. 2) are not protected under
copyright law.
12. Teach Act
According to Harper (2007), the TEACH act is “a separate set of rights in
addition to fair use, to display (show) and perform (show or play) others'
works in the classroom” (Introduction, para. 1)
This allows us to use any curriculum related work in a face to face
classroom setting no matter what medium it is (Harper, 2007).When it
comes to a digital classroom, according to Harper (2007) “Under 110(2),
however, even as revised and expanded, the same educator would have
to pare down some of those materials to show them to distant students
or make them available over the Internet to face-to-face students.The
audiovisual works and dramatic musical works may only be shown as
clips” (Introduction, para. 5)
13. ResourcesCenter for Social Media. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2013, from
http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use
Harper, G. K. (2007). Building on Other's Creative Expression.
Retrieved June 5, 2013, from Copyright Crash Course website:
http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/useofweb.html
Harper, G. K. (2007). Building on Other's Creative Expression.
Retrieved June 5, 2013, from Copyright Crash Course website:
http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/teachact.html
Harper, G. K. (2007). Building on Other's Creative Expression.
Retrieved June 5, 2013, from Copyright Crash Course website:
http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/copypol2.html
Harper, G. K. (2007). Building on Other's Creative Expression.
Retrieved June 5, 2013, from Copyright Crash Course website:
http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/permissn.html
