Fair Use and Copyright Tutorial

Activity 1 - Point/Counterpoint--How would you respond to these viewpoints?

"I should be able to download music or burn music CDs for my friends if I want to. Who is it hurting?"

High School Student, Cy-Fair ISD

"...there’s the absurd argument that, ‘Rock stars are wealthy, and therefore, it’s all right to steal from them.’ But the majority of singers and songwriters and recording artists in this business are not wealthy. They’re struggling from hand to mouth, day to day, and they need fair and just compensation for their work. These file sharing services are stealing from the people who create that music."        
       
Don Henley, Grammy Award Winning, Multi-Platinum Artist (www.musicunited.org/3_artists)
 

Activity 2:  How serious is student acceptable use?

Read the following example of illegal network access by students:

"Two Ohio high-school students face expulsion and criminal charges after allegedly using their access to a Web server to post a notice that the local schools had closed due to snow."

Read the full article online at: http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/432

What is the punishment for the crime?

Move the mouse over the image on the left or right to select the possible outcome
for the students described above.

 

Activity 3:  Printed Material Copyright--What is acceptable?

Read the following copyright requirements for printed material and then test yourself in the scenario below the chart.
Specifics What you can do The Fine Print

  • 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% 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
  • When using resources found online, the source must be cited giving credit to the author(s)

  • Copies may be made only from legally acquired originals

  • Only one copy allowed per student

  • Teachers may make copies in nine (9) 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


"My favorite textbook for this unit is no longer published! Luckily, I have a copy of it, and my students are photocopying the book. I'm not violating copyright, am I?"

Move your mouse over the choices at the right to check your answer.

More Information


Copy away!


No way!

   

Activity 4: Archiving Printed Material--What is acceptable?

Read the following copyright requirements for printed material archives and then test yourself in the scenario below the chart.

Specifics
What you can do
The Fine Print

  • 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 (3) 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.

"As the high school media specialist, I often make a backup copy of our out-of-print books for archival purposes."

Move your mouse over the choices at the right to check your answer.

More Information
Copy away!

No way!
 

Activity 5: Illustration and Photographs--What is acceptable?

Specifics
What you can do
The Fine Print

  • Photograph

  • Illustration

  • Collections of photographs

  • Collections of illustrations

  • Single works may be used in their entirety, but no more than five (5) images by a single artist or photographer may be used.

  • From a collection, not more than 15 images or 10 percent (whichever is less) may be used.

  • When using resources found online, the source must be cited giving credit to the author(s)
  • Although older illustrations may be in the public domain and don't need permission to be used, sometimes they are part of a copyright collection. Copyright ownership information is available at http://www.loc.gov/ or http://www.mpa.org/.

"I'm creating my senior project for BCIS. I used an entire collection of one artist's images from the Smithsonian Art Museum website.
Is that legal?"

Move your mouse over the choices at the right to check your answer.

For further information, see the Smithsonian Art Museum copyright information at http://www.si.edu/copyright/ .
 


No way!


Help yourself!

 

Activity 6: Video (for integration into multimedia or video projects)--What is acceptable?

Specifics
What you can do
The Fine Print

  • 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% or three (3) minutes (whichever is less) of "motion media."
  • When using resources found online, the source must be cited giving credit to the author(s)

  • 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.

"I used a short video clip from a movie in my
PowerPoint project for World History. I wrote a citation giving credit to the author. Can I do this legally?"

Move your mouse over the choices at the right to check your answer.

Yes, you can!


No way!

 

Activity 7 - Computer Software--What is acceptable?

Specifics
What you can do
The Fine Print

  • Software (purchased)

  • Software (licensed)

  • Library may lend software to patrons

  • Software may be installed on multiple machines and distributed to users via a network

  • 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

  • Only one machine at a time may use the program.

  • The number of simultaneous users must not exceed the number of licenses; and 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).

"My Mommy has saved my Barney Math game to all five computers in her classroom. She says her students like my game, too."

Move your mouse over the choices at the right to check your answer.

Yes, she can!


No way!

 

For a copy of the Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers chart provided by www.techlearning.com, click here.

 

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