COPYRIGHT,PLAGIARISM &

FAIR USE ONLINE

By Amanda Williams

THE PLAN GRADES 4-5

Part 11. Copying Online

2. Copyright

3. Plagiarism

4. Copyright Infringement

Part 25. How to Know What You Can Use

6. Federal Government

7. Public Domain

8. With Permission

9. Fair Use

PART 1

What is Copyright and Plagiarism?

COPYING ONLINE

You use the internet for so many things- games, music, videos, homework,

communication, etc.

There are lots of times when you see something cool and you want to share it or

use it for something you are working on.

Here’s the thing: that “something cool” was made by someone. And that someone

might not want you to copy his or her stuff!

COPYRIGHTWhen you create something new, that

something is protected- and so are you.

“Protected from what?”

It’s protected from people pretending it’s their own- like they made it.

You are protected because it keeps other people from taking your stuff and using it-

or even making money off of it- without your permission.

This is what “copyright” is.

So, copyright protects the stuff that was created and the person who created it.

Totally Awesome!

COPYRIGHTSay you make something totally awesome.

It could be anything- a song, a story, a video, a picture, a blog, a website- pretty much

anything.

Let’s pretend you just made the “sun-flower” picture on this page.

It’s so awesome, you want to share it with everyone you know… and even people you

don’t know!

So, you put your creation on a website.

Now, the whole world can see it!

COPYRIGHTNow, let’s say some kid in Australia sees your “sun-

flower” and also thinks it’s completely awesome.

And he wants to share it with everyone he knows.

So he copies your picture and sends it to everyone he knows… but he doesn’t say that YOU made it.

In fact,

it kind of seems like the kid in Australia made it.

That’s not fair- is it?

NOT FAIRIt’s not fair.

In fact, there are some pretty big words

that refer to this sort of thing:

The first one is “plagiarism.”

Plagiarism is when you use something

and act as if it’s your own-

or do not say who or where you got it from.

The kid who used your picture and didn’t say it was yours “plagiarized” your work.

It would not be plagiarism if he said “look at this picture I saw from this kid in the U.S.

The kid’s name is Happy Again!”

PLAGIARISMPlagiarism is a big deal.

When you write something for school or do a project, you HAVE to make sure you

DO NOT plagiarize.

Plagiarism can get you an “F”

for the project or the class.

But it can get worse.

Plagiarism can even get you expelled from school!

HOW NOT TO PLAGIARIZE

1. When you get information from different websites (or books or magazines, etc),

keep track of them- and include them in your work.

2. Try to put information in your own words.

3. If you copy something, put it in “quotation marks” and write who said it (or wrote it).

4. Don’t pretend words or work are yours if they’re not.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Another term that refers to what the kid in Australia did with your picture is

“copyright infringement.”

Copyright infringement is when you use someone’s stuff without their permission.

When the kid copied your picture and sent it to other people, that was copyright

infringement- and that’s against the law.

If he wrote you an email and asked you if he could send it to his friends- and you said

ok- then that is not copyright infringement.

SPECIAL NOTEYou can break copyright law

even if you are not plagiarizing.

For example, if the kid who copied your picture said this is made by Happy Again- but then sold t-shirts with your picture on

it (without your permission)- that is still copyright infringement.

What does that mean?

It means you need to say

where you get the stuff that’s not yours-

but also make sure you’re allowed to use it.

PART 2

How Do I Know?

&

Fair Use

HOW DO I KNOW?

How do you know you’re allowed

to use something online?

It can get pretty tricky but there are some basic rules you can follow.

THE FEDStuff on federal governments’ websites is not

copyrighted. That means you can use as much of it as you want- but you still need to

say where you got it from. WhiteHouse.gov is an example of this kind of site.

(The photo below is from WhiteHouse.gov and was taken by Samantha Appleton.)

PUBLIC DOMAINThings can be in the public domain-

like books, art, music, etc.

If something is in the public domain,

you can use as much of it as you like-

but say where you got it from!

Things get put into public domain

mostly because they’re really old.

Some examples of stories that are public domain include Cinderella, Treasure Island or Peter

Pan.

Note: What’s in public domain is the original story by the original author- not remakes (by Disney, for

example).

WITH PERMISSION

Remember when we said the kid in Australia could use your work with your permission?

Well- you can use other people’s stuff

with permission, too.

How do you get permission?

Just ask!

You can write an email to the owner of the property. Tell them what you want to use

it for (your website, a project, etc)

and ask if you can use it.

If they say yes, you can use it!

FAIR USEFair use says you can use PARTS of someone

else’s property for certain reasons.

Those reasons include:

Education*

Art*

News*

Parody*

Comments*

*from http://www.TeachingCopyright.org

FAIR USERemember, you can only use SOME of the

whole work.

To be safe, keep it under 10%.

Songs: less than 30 seconds.

Movies or videos: less than 3 minutes.

Words or books: less than 1000 words

FAIR USEYou can create something new out of other

people’s property,

but you need to follow the previous rules-

using just a part of the whole thing.

A good example of this is a mashup or collage.

You can create a collage or video that

combines some other people’s work

with some of your own

to make something different

(not a copy of the original).

BE FAIRRemember-

Copyright protects you and your stuff-

So make sure you respect other people’s stuff, too!

Always say where you got stuff from.

And never act as if someone else’s work is your own- don’t plagiarize!

You wouldn’t want someone stealing your stuff- so don’t steal someone else’s!