September 28, 2015

DAndra Hughes, Kierra Barnes, Olivia Daum

What is
Copyright?
According to the U.S. Copyright Office, a copyright is "a form of protection
grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of
authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both
published and unpublished works." Under the law, the individual or entity that
owns the copyright of a work has the following rights:Reproduction: Making copies,
Adaptation: Changing a work in some way, Distribution: Giving the work to others,
Public Performance: Playing/performing a work in front of others, Public Display:
Displaying a work for others to view, and Digital Transmission of Sound
Recordings: Capturing audio files on the internet and burning CDs/file sharing

What can not be copyrighted?

Ideas or facts in the public domain can not be copyrighted. Neither can words, names,
slogans, or other short phrases be copyrighted. Government works or works created by
federal government employees as part of their official responsibility also can not be
copyrighted.

Make your students aware of Copyrighting

Copyright with Cyberbee by Linda Joseph
http://www.cyberbee.com/copyrt.html
The site offers an overview of basic copyright information for teachers and students and
includes a lesson plan, an interactive activity for students and links to additional sites.
Copyright and Fair Use in the Classroom, on the Internet, and the World Wide Web
from the University of Maryland
http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.shtml
The site offers an excellent set of guidelines for all media types and includes practical
information about seeking permissions for using the published work of others.

TOP STORIES

Important things to know about Copyright

1. For original works created after 1977, copyright lasts for the life of author/creator + 70
years from the authors death for his/her heirs.
2. Plagiarism is concerned with the protection of ideas, copyright doesn't protect ideas it
protects "fixed expressions of ideas."
3. File a copyright registration for your work through the copyright online system. However
every request isnt accepted.
4. Fair use is not the same as free use. Fair use is a legal exception to the exclusive rights an
owner has for his or her copyrighted work.
5. Fair use is in place for the greater good, to allow copyrighted works to be used without
permission for the benefit of the public. Imagine not being able to use images of a dead
dictator to tell the story of how he died. Or not being able to talk about fashion without
showing the outfit youre referring to.
6. School districts are held liable for any copyright violations by staff within their school
system
7. A company can sue a school districts due to copyright violations.
8. Teachers have an additional responsibility to make sure that students understand the
spirit and the letter of copyright law.
9. Single Copies: For research or preparation for a class, a teacher can copy book chapters,
magazine and newspaper articles, short stories and poems, diagrams, and pictures.
10. Multiple Copies: A teacher can make multiple copies (one per pupil in a course) of
something for classroom use or discussion, as long as: poems are less than 250 words and
two pages, prose is less than 2,500 words or an excerpt, and only one diagram/picture is
copied from a single work.
11. You can get copyright free graphics from google by going to search tools and selecting
Labeled for noncommercial reuse or with modifications.

Resources
Welcome To The FACE Kids Site. (2007). Retrieved September 28, 2015.
Copyright Fair Use and How it Works for Online Images. (2011, November 23).
Retrieved September 28, 2015.
District Liability and Teaching Responsibility. (1996). Retrieved September 28,
2015.
Explaining Copyright Law and How It Applies to Teachers: What You Need to
Know About Fair Use, Making Copies & More. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28,
2015.

http://www.copyrightkids.org/