Copyright and Licensing

Erica Peto

November, 1999

With permission from: M. Rougeau, Goose Creek I.S.D.

What is copyright?

Copyright is a statutory privilege extended to creators of works fixed in a tangible medium of expression.– Copyright laws legally protect the potential

monetary value of creative endeavors as a way of encouraging the producers of information and entertainment to publish their work, and thus to share it with others.

Copyright owners have exclusive rights to:

Reproduce the work Prepare a derivative work Distribute the work Perform the work publicly Display the work publicly

Establishing Copyright

In the USA, everything created privately and originally after April 1, 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not. (Berne Copyright Convention). Copyright is established the moment a work is fixed in tangible form and lasts until 50 years after the author dies.

Copyright notice

Although not necessary, a notice of copyright helps strengthen the protection. The correct form of notice:

“Copyright [dates] by [author/owner]

You may use © in a circle instead of copyright but not (C) in parentheses.

Fair Use Four factors are to be considered in

determining whether or not a particular use of a copyrighted work is fair:1. Purpose and character of the use

(nonprofit educational use vs.commercial purposes)

2. Nature of the copyrighted work3. Amount and substantiality of the

portionused in relation to the work as a whole

4. Effect of the use upon potential marketfor value of the work.

Fair Use Purpose

The intent of fair use is to allow for criticism, commentary, news reporting, research, education and parody about copyrighted works NOT to allow schools and educational institutions free rein to use copyrighted materials, especially if those works are published or viewed outside of the classroom.

True or False

A history teacher taped the original ABC news report showing Richard Nixon leaving the White House after he resigned. She made it at home on her personal VCR and used her own tape. She uses the entire news program every year in her classroom.

This is fair use.

Answer

False

Congress holds that videotapes of publicly broadcast shows can only be shown for 10 days afterwards, unless the copyright holder grants greater allowances for educators. The time has long passed when she should have asked permission or purchased the tape.

True or False

A teacher rents “GONE WITH THE WIND” to show the burning of Atlanta scene to her class while studying the Civil War.

This is fair use.

Answer

True

The video is a legal copy being used for instructional purposes.

Trademarks and Patents

A patent is a grant of exclusive rights issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that gives an inventor a 20-year monopoly on the right to "practice" or make, use, and sell his or her invention.

A trademark is any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify his or her goods and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others.

Computer Software and CD-ROMs

Only load software on the number of machines for which you have permission.

Do not load drivers for CD-ROMs onto multiple machines.

Upgrades of programs become your legal copies - discard earlier versions.

Do not load school software onto home computers (and vice versa).

Follow shareware and freeware rules. Old copies of software can be given

away (and not used at school anymore). Multi-platform CD-ROM drivers can only

be loaded onto the one platform of choice.

Computer Software and CD-ROMs

You can legally use one program with one child or group of children as long as you’re only on one machine.

Anything a student creates belongs to the student and not the school.

Before loading a program on another computer it must first be deleted from the previous computer (for one license).

Computer Software and CD-ROMs

If a school consolidates or moves to a new building, the software transfers as well.

Purchasers are allowed to make one backup copy of software for archival purposes only.

Keep all software licensing documentation.

Computer Software and CD-ROMs

True or False

A teacher buys a single-user software program with department money and puts it on the local-area network. It is used by several teachers at the same time. This is done in violation of a written district policy against using single-user programs on the LAN. After 2 years the software company takes action against the teacher. The district is also liable.

Answer

True.

The district must enforce its written policy, not just post it. Unendorsed policy cost one large district over $1 million.

True or False

Copyrighted material used in multimedia projects may remain in the student’s portfolio forever.

Answer

True

As long as the material is not publicly distributed, the student may archive his/her work.

What is a software license?

A software license allows the purchaser to use the software under certain specified conditions. The license also stipulates what the purchaser may or may not do with the software.

Shareware

Shareware allows users to try software before purchasing it. If it is found to be of use, the user then pays a fee to the shareware author. The fee paid is determined by the author (usually found in a “read me” file with the software) and is paid on the honor system.

Freeware

The freeware software producer retains the copyright to the product however no fee is charged.

Freeware generally comes with many of the restrictions found in shareware or fee licensed software.

Public Domain Items placed intentionally into public

domain by the author/creator are not copyrighted. Material on which the copyright has expired is also considered public domain.

Granting something to the public domain is a complete abandonment of all rights and derivative works can be made and copyrighted from public domain material.

Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines

You may use:– 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less, of a

motion media work.– 10% or 1,000 words, whichever is less, to

incorporate into a multimedia project.– Up to 10%, but never more than 30

seconds, of music and lyrics.

True or False

A student doing a multimedia report discovers how to copy the QuickTime movie of Kennedy’s “We shall go to the moon” speech from a CD-ROM encyclopedia. He places it in his project. This is fair use.

Answer

True

The length of the clip and its use for educational purposes support the fact that this is fair use.

True or False

An elementary school transcribes the lyrics from the album “CATS” and puts it on as the school mini-musical. A teacher plays the music by ear on the piano and the students perform every song. There is no admission charge. This is legal.

Answer

False

The copyright holder sells the performance rights to schools in a very specific way. If you want “CATS”, buy the performance rights. Sell tickets if you have to!

True or False

A student brings in an audio cassette copy of the national anthem that he copied from an audio CD lent to him by a friend. Another student digitizes this into a HyperStudio stack. This is fair use.

Answer

False

For fair use, the copy must be legally obtained. The student was using an unauthorized copy. Francis Scott Key may be dead, but the orchestra that created the arrangement and created the tape is probably alive and kicking.

Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines You may use:

– No more than 5 images by the same artist or photographer. No more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, of a collective work. (photos and illustrations).

– Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cells, whichever is less, of a database.

Copyright and the Internet

Under the guidelines of copyright, media on the Internet is copyrighted—whether it expressly says so or not.

Either ask and receive permission to use copyrighted materials on your Web site or use public domain or original media.

True or False

A student finds a photo online dramatizing a pre-Columbian Viking landing in America. Since the school symbol is the Viking, he uses this photo as a graphic element on the school’s Web page – giving credit to the site from which it was copied. This is fair use.

Answer

False

Internet pages are copyrighted automatically. The student cannot safely post (and therefore re-copyright) anything for the general public without permission—even if credit is given.

Use in a classroom report would have been OK.

Linking to Web pages

Like a street address, a URL for a Web page is not copyrightable. Therefore, listing a link on your Web site does not require permission. However, copying an entire list of links from another Web page could be.

Linking to Web pages

You also might want to:

– Remove a link to another person’s Web page if asked to do so.

– Remove links to pages where you suspect the author(s) have included materials without the copyright owner’s permission.

Violation of Copyright Violation of copyright laws is usually a

civil matter, resulting in lawsuits instead of criminal trials. However, if the case involves more than 10 copies and a value of over $2,500, it can be made a felony. Under U.S. law, infringement may result in civil damages of up to $100,000 and/or criminal penalties of up to five years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.

Following copyright laws and guidelines allows you to: Be a good role model. Support creative endeavors and the

ability to profit from them. Avoid lawsuits and other trouble!

Sources Joseph, Linda C. (1999). CyberBee Copyright Workshop, [Online].

Available: World Wide Web: http://www.cyberbee.com/copyrt.html McKenzie, Jamie. (1996). Keeping it Legal: Questions arising out of

Web site management, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.fno.org/jun96/legal.html

Northern Trails Education Agency (1999). To Copy or Not to Copy - That is the Question, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.aea2.k12.ia.us/Tutorials/Copyright/Copyright_.html

O'Mahoney P.J. Benedict. (1995). Copyright Website, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.benedict.com/

Software & Information Industry Association. (1999). Copyright Glossary, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.siia.net/piracy/programs/glossary.htm

Templeton, Brad. 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.htm

U. S. Copyright Office. [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/

Intellectual Property

The term intellectual property refers to personal rights of ownership acquired originally or derivatively from intellectual creations. For example: copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

Photocopying

Teachers can do the following copying for their own scholarly research, use in teaching, or preparing to teach a class. Multiple copies (one copy per student in a course) can be made if it meets the criteria of brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect and if each copy contains a notice of copyright.

Brevity A complete poem printed on no more than

two pages or an excerpt from a longer poem not to exceed 250 words.

A complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words may be copied in its entirety. For other kinds of prose, such as a play or novel, a copy must not be more than 1,000 words or 10% of the whole, whichever is less. No matter how short the work, one may copy an excerpt of 500 words.

One chart, graph, diagram, cartoon, or picture per book or periodical issue.

Spontaneity

Copying is done by the teacher when there is not a reasonable length of time to request and receive permission to copy.

Cumulative Effect

The copying is only for one course and only nine instances of multiple copying per course during one class term is allowed. Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, nor more than three from the same collective work during one class term.

Children’s Picture Books

Short works such as these are often less than 2,500 words and cannot be copied as a whole.

An excerpt of not more than two published pages or 10% of the book, whichever is less, can be copied.

You do not have permission to copy if:

Copying is done to create or replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations, or collective works.

The item is consumable (i.e. workbooks) You are in any way substituting for

purchasing books, periodicals, etc. You intend to charge the student more

than what the item actually cost to copy. You intend to use it term after term.

Video Use at school must:

Take place in a classroom or similar place of instruction.

Be part of the regular instructional process, not recreational.

Be in the course of face-to-face teaching activities.

Be a lawfully-made or acquired copy.

Videotaping Guidelines

Taped shows:– Cannot be kept for more than 45 days after

the recording date.– Can only be shown within the first 10 days

of that 45-day period.– Can only be made through a teacher

request, not in anticipation of a need.– Can only be shown two times within a

single class.

Videotaping Guidelines

After 10 days the tapes can only be reviewed by the teacher for possible purchase and curriculum inclusion.

Duplicate copies of the same program can be made to fill teacher requests.

Tapes cannot be altered in any way. All copies must include copyright notice.

Videotaping Guidelines

These guidelines apply only to nonprofit education institutions, which are expected to establish control procedures to make sure these guidelines are met.

Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines

You may not have more than two useable copies of a project.

As a teacher, you may keep projects for approximately two years.

These guidelines apply to the classroom setting. Once you go outside that setting (i.e. to the Internet) you must obtain all appropriate permissions.