Copyright Infringements for Materials You Use in Class

By Daniel Lovell

Interesting Facts

There are no official "copyright cops."  However, there are many self-appointed ones who fuss about sharing of materials.

Copyright infringement is almost always a civil rather than a criminal matter.

Copyright

Copyright is a legal device that allows artist, writers, or someone who creates an important idea; that gives the creators of these types of work the ability to control how their work is used.

What Can You Copyright?

Expressions Original ideas Tangible ideas Creative ideas

What Cannot be Copyrighted

Ideas and facts that are in the public domain

Words, names, Expressions, or phrases Blank forms Judicial opinions Public ordinances Administrative rulings

Copyright Protection

Allows you to make copies of your work Sell or distribute the work Prepare new work based on old work Can preform the protected works

How to Avoid Copyright Infringment?

Get permission from the owner of the material

Ask your school library for help Submit a letter requesting permission to

use the work

What You Can Use

Short stories Essays Poems Charts, graphs, etc.. Newspaper articles Chapter from a book

What Will Happen???

Criminal Charges Fines Maximum penalty:Prison and $500,000 in

fines

Works Cited

Zoom, L. (1998). Legal Info. Retrieved from LegalZoom: http://info.legalzoom.com/can-legally-happen-someone-commit-copyright-infringement-21128.html

College, U. o. (2011, January 28). UMUC. Retrieved from http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/copyright.cfm