Copyright

Areas:1-6 (sign up)

1.Background Beach- Masha Zubkis
Background Beach explores the historical connection with copyrighting and fair use, including the
court cases associated with them, as well as their application for educators. Copyright is the legal
mechanism used by authors, creators and publishers to protect their works and is defined as their
exclusive right as the creator to “reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform, display, sell,
lead or rent their creations”. Copyright protects poetry, prose, artwork, movies, videos, web pages,
photographs, music, computer programs and more. The Copyright Act granted five rights to the copyright
owner, the only way as educators for us to go around this Act is by Fair Use. Fair Use can only be used in
a non-profit educational institution and is defined as a belief that copying should be allowed in certain
circumstances such as teaching, scholarly research, news reporting and criticism. With Fair Use,
educators of non-profit educational institutions can use copyrighted material without having to get
permission or pay the author or publisher. However, the use of items based on Fair Use is very
controversial because it states that the person making fair use of a work does not need to seek
permission from the owner to use the work, in direct conflict of the Copyright Act. Congress established
four provisions in 1976 for use of copyright materials in a non-profit educational institution; the purpose
and character must be for education, the nature, the amount and substantiality and the effects it will have
upon the market for the value of the original work.
Application for teachers is that based on these provisions, educators must decide how much of the
work is necessary to use in order to teach and use their best judgment when making copies of works or
material in order to be in line with the law.

2. Multimedia Wharf - Carley Collier

The fair use guidelines presented in Multimedia Wharf are suggestions, not laws, but
they do set standards accepted by authors, publishers, educators, librarians, attorneys, and
others. These guidelines set standards for both teachers and students on the proper, legal
use of copyrighted materials when creating multimedia presentations. These guidelines
make it possible for educatiors and students to use small portions of copyrighted material in
the creation of multimedia products without permission or payment to the publisher.
Students can use copyrighted works in the performance and display of their multimedia
creations that are made for academic assignments. Faculty can use copyrighted
multimedia works in the production of curriculum material, in the provision of educational
multimedia used for distance learning (given that only those students may access the
material), and/or in demonstrating their multimedia creations at professional symposia and
retaining some in their own portfolios.

Fair use guidelines also outline specific limits in the use of copyrighted multimedia.
The following is a list of some of those specifications:
· Video – up to 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less
· Text – up to 10% or 1,000 words, whichever is less
· Poems – up to 250 words
o 3 poem limit per poet
o 5 poem limit by different poets in an anthology
· Music – up to 10% or 30 seconds, whichever is less
· Photos/Images – up to 5 works from one author
o Up to 10% or 15 works from one collection, whichever is less
· Database Information – up to 10% or 2,500 fields or cell entries
Faculty can retain multimedia products incorporating the copyrighted works of others for up
to two years for educational use. Any use after two years would require seeking permission
for use. The key to fair use in multimedia is to use the smallest portion necessary of an
educational work to achieve the instructional objective.

3. Single Copying Inlet- Masha Zubkis

The Single Copying Inlet goes into more depth about the educators’ fair use rights when making single
copies. The 1976 Copyright Act failed to define Fair Use, therefore a set of guidelines for making single
copies was created by the House of Representatives. This set of guidelines were created to set
boundaries for educators so that they may use materials without needing to be granted permission from
the author or publisher. The guidelines state that educators may make single copies of the following:
• Chapter from a book
• Article from a newspaper or periodical
• Short story
• Short essay
• Short poem
• Chart, graph, diagram drawing or picture from a book, newspaper or periodical
Educators may also select documents, books and other materials to be placed in a Libraries Reserve
Room where students can borrow the materials and make their own single copies, thus making the
students accountable for any violations of the Copyright Act. Educators also use electronic reserves,
where students may access a document via the internet, and restrict it to students only taking their
course. This is another controversial issue because some argue that it is not fair use and acts such as the
“Digital Millennium Copyright Act” of 1998 interpret the use of fair use in terms of copyright for the new
digital millennium. More controversy surrounds the idea of ‘coursepacks’ made by educators for their
classes, which, include copied material for use in the classroom., however this issue may be regarded as
part the category for making multiple copies.
Application for teachers is that as an educator, I will have broad copying privileges and they will not be
unlimited. I will only be able to use materials without paying and obtaining permission if they are for
research, scholastic pursuit or for placement in the library reserve room for student access. I will need to
be especially familiar with the criteria for fair use and always evaluate any material I use in terms of those
criteria.

4. Cove of Multiple Copies - Carley Collier

As is the case with other fair use guidelines, the guidelines for making multiple copies
for classroom use are simply suggestions, not law. These fair use guidelines are derived
from the House version of the 1976 Copyright Act, which is the current version in effect
today. The following outline some specific limits on the fair use of multiple copies for
classroom use:
· An article – 2,500 words
· A longer work of prose – 10 % of the text or 1,000 words, whichever is less
· A poem – 250 words
o For a longer poem, an excerpt of no more than 250 words may be used.
· No more than 1 chart, diagram, cartoon, or picture from:
o A book
o A periodical
o A newspaper
· No more than:
o 1 work can be copied from a single author
o 3 authors can be copied from a single collective work
o 9 instances of multiple copying can occur during a single term or semester

There are other specifications involved in multiple copying. Copying must be done at
the initiative of the teacher (at the moment of inspiration.) Only one copy can be made for
each student and no charge can be made to the student except to recover only the cost of
the copying. The copying cannot be done for multiple courses. The same item cannot be
reproduced from term to term. “Consumable works,” such as workbooks and standardized
tests, cannot be copied. Teachers can copy newspapers and periodicals as many times as
they want, as long as copies stay within the word limits outlined by the fair use guidelines.
A teacher may not put copies into collective works, as this violates the copyright holder’s
right to make “derivative works.”

If a teacher has time to seek a publisher’s reprint, or get permission, he or she is

legally obligated to do so. It is only if the teacher doesn’t have time that it is fair use to
make copies for students. Teachers are practicing fair use for the making of multiple copies
for classroom use if they are making the copies spur of the moment, and if the copies are
brief in number and size. Remember, teachers should only use their right to make multiple
copies for classroom use if the copied material is meeting a necessity to accomplish his or
her instructional goal.

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