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What is Copyright? | Permission to Use Copyrighted Material | TEACH Act | What is "Fair Use"?
Copyright Fair Use Guidelines | What is Plagiarism? | Suggestions for Helping Students Avoid Plagiarism
Using Digital Video | Using Digital Images | Using Music | Using Internet Materials | Software Programs

What is Copyright?

Copyright grants the person who owns the exclusive right to an original work, the copyright holder, sole authority to reproduce and distribute the work in any format or to grant permission to others to reproduce the copyrighted work. Copyright protection covers published and non-published expression of an idea, not the idea itself. The medium of expression includes literary works, musical works including words, dramatic works including accompanying music, pantomimes and choreographic works, pictorial, graphic, and sculptured works, motion pictures and audiovisual works, sound recordings, and architectural works.

Teachers at all levels have the responsibility to model appropriate respect for copyright law, the responsibility to stay informed and aware of changes in fair use guidelines for classroom instructional applications and the responsibility to educate students about copyright infringement and fair use.

The following link provides copyright examples illustrating the application of fair use in an educational setting. The scenarios deal with situations involving print, multimedia, distance learning and electronic media. You will find scenarios representing real world classroom decision/questions and answers to copyright issues.

http://www.usg.edu/admin/legal/copyright#part2

Permission to Use Copyrighted Material

The following sites provide guidelines and easy to use templates for requesting permission to use copyrighted material for educational purposes.

http://www.ksu.edu/academicservices/intprop/permission.htm
A complete "How to Guide" of resource information on copyright and fair use guidelines. The guide provides sources for requesting permission with samples of permission letters. The site also lists a database for finding copyright holders, public domain resources, and a link to the copyright clearance center.

http://www3.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/permissn.htm
Need permission to use copyrighted material? This site will provide linked resources to help in identifying and contacting copyright owners.

TEACH Act

On November 2, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act). The new law, which became effective immediately, removes some of the barriers of the original law (The Copyright Act of 1976) in regard to distance education. In the mid-1970's, the closed circuit television was the technological mode used in distance education. Technological advances since that time constituted the need for revisions in order for the "fair use" copyright laws in education" to be equally balanced for face-to-face instruction and distance education. Permission to use copyrighted materials for distance education initiatives without the permission of copyright holders or without payment of royalties are the primary benefits of the TEACH Act.

What is "Fair Use"?

Fair use specifies situations in which copyrighted materials may be used without the permission of the copyright holder. These specifications state that the purpose of the use must be educational or non-profit in nature, the copied material must be an excerpt or a portion of the original work without being a critical portion of the work, and an educator may not market the work.

Specific guidelines provide a list of restrictions for educators. The limitations allow the copying of some works in their entirety and other works are copied in limited amounts when used spontaneously by the instructor for educational purposes.

These laws were designed for use in a face-to-face instructional environment. How the laws pertain to distance education is unclear since technology has advanced rapidly since the laws were passed. To be safe when using copyrighted material electronically, utilize the existing copyright policies, request permission if unsure, and give proper copyright credit. Works produced and published by the U.S. government cannot be copyrighted. Teachers are free to use material from any government publications or websites without fear of infringement.

Copyright Fair Use Guidelines

http://www.standrews.austin.tx.us/library/Copyright.htm
You will find on this site a "printable" yes/no chart that describes common copyright issues and the guidelines. It is an excellent resource for both students and teachers.

http://www.mediafestival.org/copyrightchart.html
An excellent detailed chart of copyright and fair use guidelines. This helpful chart is designed for classroom teachers and provides a wealth of information.

http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.html
Copyright and Fair Use apply to printed materials in the classroom, on the Internet, and the World Wide Web. Highly recommended for educators seeking information about copyright law, educational multimedia guidelines, and how to acquire permission.

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the copying of someone else's work, either verbatim or by paraphrasing or manipulating it and then claiming it as original work. Students are often tempted to take well-written sentences or unique approaches from resource material without giving credit to the original writer. This "borrowing" of another's work is sometimes a half-conscious action on the part of the student and is stimulated by admiration for the author's skill or expertise and the ease in which the material is conveniently available through numerous sources on the Internet. Teachers need to be prepared to help students avoid plagiarism when using resource materials.

To help students understand plagiarism and the ethical consequences, use the online slideshow available at the URL given below. Delivery of the slideshow can be shown to a whole class using a multimedia projector or individually to students who access the site. http://reference.camden.lib.nj.us/classes/garwood/cybercheats/defaultp_files/frame.htm

Suggestions for helping students avoid plagiarism

1. Discourage copying. Discuss the content material with students and encourage them to express their ideas about the information presented in their own words.
   
2. Educate parents about copying in regard to plagiarism. Parents can help their student by encouraging them to put information into their own words.
   
3. Select age appropriate topics. If a student does not understand a topic, copying will often result. Teachers can develop a list of topic suggestions for different grade levels based on a student's academic ability (e.g. average fifth grader, bright eighth grader, gifted sophomore, learning disabled junior).
   
4. Include writing in the curriculum. Encourage teachers in all discipline areas to include writing as part of their course (e.g. grade 1 students-short sentences, grade 10 biology students-lab reports, grade 8 social studies students-reports).
   
5. Guide students in the writing process. Beginning in the early grades, provide guidance for writing assignments using resources. Begin by helping students locate appropriate resources. Follow with a discussion about the material focusing on the main ideas and instruct students on how to create sentences in their own words that represents the ideas presented in the resource material.
   
6. Provide instruction for quoting material. Beginning as early as fourth grade, students should be instructed on how to quote and give credit to material. If students are comfortable with quoting, they will be less tempted to resort to copying. The following URL provides information and resources for quoting source material. http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/resource/wc/usingsources.html
   
7. Develop a timeline for long-term reports. Assist students with the process and development time for long-term reports. Provide time for students to review source material and compose sentences. Help them compare their writing to the source materials they used. Develop a report schedule, breaking down the total requirements into shorter timelines that will allow students to develop original thoughts and ideas and not copy due to time constraints.
   
8. Create original writing projects. Students may avoid copying if a "slant" to the topic is offered by the teacher. Using different points of view about a topic encourages students to take factual content information, digest it and then use illustrate comprehension by using the material learned in a context other than simple regreitation. For example, you can ask students to provide information about a particular planet, by taking the v viewpoint of a space traveler rather than a report about the planet itself or as a member of a community in a specific historical period rather than general facts about that period in history.

Using Digital Video

Teachers are permitted to record motion media via videotape for educational purposes. However, the showing of the tape is limited to the recorder. For instance, a single copy of a videotape can be made by a teacher if used for instructional purposes in his/her classroom only. No other teacher has permission to show the tape.

Existing videotapes may be copied for archival purposes or to replace lost, damaged, or stolen copies if replacements are unavailable at a fair price or are only available in obsolete formats.

Using Digital Images

Digital images are works of art that are expressed in visual form digitally. These images derive from an original work including a graphic, a sculpture, an architectural plan, still photos, or audio-visual works. Reproductions of an original work are often expressed as photographs, 35mm slides, or color transparencies that are fixed in digital or analog form.

As electronic technology has advanced, the reproduction of digital images has become easier, cheaper, and widely accessible. This does not mean that they can be reproduced and reused without permission.

Teachers are permitted to use illustrations and photographs in their entirety when used for educational purposes, including face-to-face and electronically networked teaching of a curriculum-based course to students enrolled in that course. Images can be used or displayed in presentations for professional development workshops and conferences where educators discuss relevance of concepts or created works are presented for educational purposes. However, this is limited to no more than 5 images by an artist or photographer and no more than 15 or 10%-15%, whichever is less from a collection of work.

Using Music

Copyright laws forbid the unauthorized commercial distribution and rental of sound recordings and the unauthorized recording and distribution of a live performance.

However, personal purchases of recordings can be copied for backup. Personal use also permits the owner to make "mix tapes" or compilations of favorite songs from personal collections or the radio for personal enjoyment. Electronic media provides music fans with the right and ability to copy their own music collections onto their own computer storage device and create customized play lists for their own personal use and enjoyment of music.

Teachers are permitted to use published or recorded music for educational purposes. However, this is limited to no more than 3 minutes or 10%, whichever is less. School performances that are open to the public are permitted in their entirety.

Using Internet Materials

The digital format of Internet materials such as text and graphics are easy to reproduce and distribute. However, they are copyright protected and permission is required if they are to be used.

Hyperlinks to other pages on the web are not considered a copyright violation. Requesting permission to link to a web page is not required, but it is considered to be a courteous gesture.

Images may downloaded from the Internet for students projects and teacher lessons. The project or lesson may not be reposted on the World Wide Web without permission. There are many sites on the Internet that offer public domain images, music, and artwork that are free to download and use without permission.

Software Programs

Computer software piracy is a major problem for the industry and a violation of copyright law. Computer software programs are considered to be a set of statements or instructions used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a result. Therefore, copyright protects the program as "literary works"

Computer software copyright laws and license agreements are strictly enforced under the copyright laws. Teachers are allowed to make backup copies of software programs to have on hand in case the original is damaged or destroyed. A purchased program may be installed at school and at home for a teacher's convenience.

School libraries may lend software to patrons of the district, with the assumption that they will remove the program from their personal computer upon returning the software to the school.

Specialty licenses allow the distribution of software programs to multiple machines via a network.