Copyright and Fair Use
Copying and Using
Resources
Users and producers who agreed on specific restrictions for the use of materials developed the fair use guidelines. Since these are guidelines they do not carry the force of law. However, following the guidelines makes it likely that the use is fair use and provides safe minimums.
Print Materials (books and periodicals)
Single Copying for Teachers: A single copy may be made for the purposes of scholarly research, use in teaching, or in preparation for teaching. Copies may include:
Ø a chapter from a book.
Ø an article from a periodical or newspaper.
Ø a short story, short essay or short poem.
Ø a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper.
Multiple Copies for Classroom Use: Teachers may make multiple copies (one per student) for classroom use with the following provisions:
Ø The copying meets the test of brevity, spontaneity and cumulative effect.
Ø Each copy includes the copyright notice.
Brevity
Ø Poetry: An entire poem of less than 250 words that does not exceed two pages or an excerpt from a longer poem of not more than 250 words.
Ø Prose: A complete article, story, or essay of less than 2,500 words or an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less. Regardless of length, 500 words may be copied.
Ø Illustration: One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture from each book or periodical.
Ø “Special Works” (picture books): Picture books are usually shorter than 2,500 words, which would allow them to be copied in their entirety. However, there is a special exception for picture books, which limits copying to two pages, if those two pages do not contain more than 10% of the words found in the book.
Spontaneity: The time between the decision to use the work and the moment of its use are so close that there was no time to request permission. However, works may not be used a second time without permission.
Cumulative effect:
Ø The copying of the material is for one course in the school for which the copies are made.
Ø Only one short poem, article, story, essay, or two excerpts may be copied from the same author and not more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term.
Ø There shall not be more than nine instances of multiple copying for one course during one term.
Prohibitions. Notwithstanding to the items above, the
following are prohibited:
Copying cannot:
Ø be used to create, replace, or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works.
Ø substitute for the purchase of books or periodicals.
Ø be directed by a higher authority.
Ø be repeated with respect to the same item, by the same teacher from term to term.
There shall be no copying of “consumables” in teaching and learning (e.g. workbooks, standardized tests, exercises).
Students cannot be charged beyond the actual cost of photocopying.
Video
Most, if not all, videotapes and DVDs available from rental stores carry "For Home Use Only" rights. We may rent these films and use them in schools under the fair use guidelines as specified in the educational exemption in Section 110 of the U. S. code (see the four conditions listed below).
For Home Use Only: Use of videotapes or DVDs with this designation is limited
to home use. Displaying or performing a work in a public place constitutes a
public performance. Schools qualify as public places and therefore require
public performance licenses for works such as videotapes or DVDs. An
educational exemption (Section 110 of the U. S. Code) is allowed when all
four of the following conditions are met:
1. The performance must be presented by instructors or pupils;
2. The performance must occur in the course of face-to-face
teaching;
3. The performances must take place in a classroom or similar
place of instruction in a
non-profit educational institution (including spaces such as the cafeteria, auditorium and library
media center); and
4. The performance must be of a legally acquired (or legally
copied) copy of the work.
Under the educational exemption,
showing these videotapes or DVDs for entertainment purposes is not
permissible. For example, showing a “For Home Use Only” videotape during indoor
recess.
The
following article entitled "Carrie
on Copyright" from School Library Journal (December 2001)
addresses the use of “For Home Use Only” videos in the classroom.
Off-air taping: Videotaping broadcasts of television programs including cable and satellite programs. These videotapes may be used, even if there is no time to purchase or request permission, under the educational exemption (Section 110 of the U. S. Code) is allowed when all four of the following conditions are met:
- The performance must be presented by instructors or pupils;
- The performance must occur in the course of face-to-face teaching;
- The performances must take place in a classroom or similar place of instruction in a non-profit educational institution (including spaces such as the cafeteria, auditorium and library media center); and
- The performance must be of a legally acquired (or legally copied) copy of the work.
Under the educational exemption, showing videotapes or DVDs for entertainment purposes is not permissible. Additionally, these videotapes must be used within 10 school days of taping and destroyed (erased) within 45 calendar days of taping.
Public performance rights (PPR): Films (videotapes or DVDs), which carry a license that allows the showing of these works for entertainment purposes. Some films can be purchased with public performance rights. Visit this link for a list of vendors that offer public performance rights for some or all of their films: Public Performance Rights
Umbrella license: Several vendors offer school wide licenses, which permit educators to show noninstructional films in a school setting, from a select list of studios or producers. For example, videotapes with For Home Use only rights may then be shown for entertainment purposes. Educators are limited to selecting videotapes from the specified list of studios or producers.
Multimedia
Materials
Fair use guidelines also provide for the use of copyrighted materials in creating educational multimedia projects (e.g. Hyperstudio or PowerPoint presentation). Such projects include original content produced by educators or students along with copyrighted material from a variety of formats.
Ø Motion
media (e.g. films, videotapes, DVDs)
--Up to 10% of the total or 3 minutes, whichever is less
Ø Text
--Up to 10% of the total or 1,000 words, whichever is less
--An entire poem of less than 250 words may be used, but no more than 3 poems
by 1 poet or 5 poems by different authors in an anthology. For poems exceeding
250 words, 250 words should be used but no more than 3 excerpts from one poet
or 5 excerpts from different poets in the same work
Ø
Music, lyrics and music video
--Up to 10% of the work, but no more than 30 seconds of the music or lyrics
from an individual musical work
Ø Illustrations
or photographs
--No more than 5 images from 1 artist or photographer
--No more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, from a collection
Ø Numerical
data sets
--Up to 10% or 2,500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less, from a
copyrighted database or data table
Ø Multimedia
project
--No more than 2 copies may be made of a project
Educators and students may use copyrighted material in multimedia projects in compliance with the following guidelines:
Ø Observe the quantity limits as noted above.
Ø The multimedia project supports direct instruction.
Ø Although educators and students may keep multimedia projects, educators are limited to 2 years. After 2 years, educators must obtain permission for each copyrighted section before using the project again.
Ø Multimedia projects with copyrighted materials may not be displayed in a public performance (e.g. open house, science fair, technology fair).
Ø Students may keep and use multimedia projects indefinitely, but teachers may not keep a copy.
Multimedia projects including copyrighted material, such as a PowerPoint presentation, should include a statement to that effect on the first slide. For example:
“This program contains copyrighted material used under the educational fair use exemption to the U. S. Copyright Law.”
At the end of the presentation, include a citation for each piece of copyrighted material used in the presentation.
Computer Software
Although most computer software is copyrighted, it typically falls under additional restrictions described in a license agreement. Check the type of license (e.g. single-user, network, site) purchased for each software program and maintain records of all agreements, including a copy of the purchase order. Limited copying under the following conditions are permitted:
Ø If the copy is an essential part of the operation of the computer program then a copy is permitted. One example is a software program that must be copied to the hard drive of the computer. Installing a printer driver allowed by the software program is also acceptable.
Ø If a copy is made for archival or backup purposes and not used, then a copy is permissible.
One example of unacceptable copying is installing a single-user copy of computer software on more than one computer. Illegal copying of computer software is referred to as “piracy.” This is a felony with fines of up to $250,000.
Graphics
Graphics include a variety of picture images: photographs, illustrations, charts, maps, diagrams and posters. Section 106 of the copyright law provides the copyright owner with the following rights:
Ø Reproduction
Ø Adaptation
Ø Distribution
Ø Performance
Ø Display
Ø Digital audio transmission
The fair use guidelines allow making a single copy for personal use. Multiple copies of a single graphic must meet the following criteria:
Ø A teacher initiates the copying and there is not sufficient time to request permission.
Ø The copy is for a single course.
Ø Teachers may make multiple copies no more that 9 times for a course.
Ø Only one graphic per book or periodical is allowed.
In addition to the limits on copying, adaptations of graphics (e.g. cartoon characters) can be particularly problematic.
Internet
Documents available on the Internet are protected by copyright regardless of whether or not a copyright notice or copyright symbol is displayed. By placing information on the Internet, the copyright holder is permitting others to view their work. Some documents may be in the public domain or permission may be granted on the Internet site for use by nonprofit institutions. However, these are exceptions to the majority of items available on the Internet. The four tests of fair use apply to information on the Internet:
- The purpose and character of the use;
- The nature of the copyrighted work;
- The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
- The effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Some things to consider when copying or using Internet items:
The author owns the content of email messages. Recipients of email may not make copies or forward the message without the permission of the author.
Web pages
Showing a Web page to a class constitutes a public performance. An educational exemption (Section 110 of the U. S. Code) is allowed when all four of the following conditions are met:
- The performance must be presented by instructors or pupils;
- The performance must occur in the course of face-to-face teaching;
- The performances must take place in a classroom or similar place of instruction in a non-profit educational institution (including spaces such as the cafeteria, auditorium and library media center); and
- The performance must be of a legally acquired (or legally copied) copy of the work.
Students may include limited portions of information copied from the Internet in their work. However, teachers may not keep copies or originals of the student’s work, which includes information copied from the Internet. Students may keep copies made from the Internet.
Educators or students creating Web pages must have permission to use the graphics displayed on their Web page. Photographs require permission from both the photographer and any recognizable person in the photograph.
Internet Code
Internet code (e.g. HTML) is protected by copyright. Request permission from the creator before using or adapting the code on your own Web page.
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