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To Copy or Not to Copy-That is the Question
Copyright in education is a very thorny issue. Many teachers, in pre-service are told that because they are teachers they do not need to worry about copyright. WRONG! Copyright applies to educational material, videos, CD's, Web sites, etc. Educators did get lucky within the copyright law because of the Fair Use Guidelines, however, many educators think Fair Use gives them carte blanche to handle material any way they'd like because they are using this material for their students. WRONG AGAIN! To understand Fair Use go to the Library of Congress Copyright Office Fair Use web site: http://www.copyright.gov.fls/fairuse.html.
Your school Media Specialist needs to invest in at least one current book that contains information on educational copyright. Many publishers that cater to librarians like Linworth Publishing and Libraries Unlimited offer current books about school copyright. The copyright on these publications should be 2000 or later. Your school should have a copyright policy which has been accepted by the Board. (Most Boards of Education have a copyright policy, the teachers just aren't aware of it. This policy is really meant to try and protect the Board from the teacher violator.) Copyright laws, rules and regulations are always scrambling to keep up with current technology. Much of this law is made because of court cases.
Obviously, copyright applies to schools because within the last few years many groups have gone after schools because of blatant copyright disregard. This has been particularly true within the computer software area. Many schools have been fined large sums of money for violating software copyright rules. Let us be clear: Claiming poverty or ignorance will not help a school in the least when they get to court. Ultimately it is a court case that must decide if a teacher or school is a copyright violator. In the vast majority of court cases that deal with schools and copyright the schools lose!!
Many educational technology and media journals have articles on this issue. One of the best articles on this recently was in the journal, "Multimedia Schools". It was Linda C. Joseph's Cyber Bee feature. It was the Oct., 2001, issue starting on page 28. It gave some great suggestions on how to teach students and teachers about educational copyright. It also gave several web sites, some of which, have been incorporated into the Web sites listed at the end of this presentation. Another great article with a "Copyright Quiz" was in the Oct., 2002, "Technology & Learning" starting on page. 26 by Hall Davidson. (If you have purchased an online database that contains educational journals just go to that area and use key words like "educational coyright", "school copyright", etc. and find even more articles. Same would apply to sites directly on the Web.)
One of the fastest growing areas of concern for middle and high schools is the rampant copyright violations happening on the Web. Students are buying and stealing term papers and not giving any kind of credit or attribtution because they think teachers are too stupid to discover what they have done. Students think because they have done these kinds of things on the Web that they are anonymous. To combat this many schools across the country are investing in sevices like "Turn It In"(http://www.turnitin.com). For an annual fee your school can check term papers and sections of other things turned in to see if it has been lifted from the Internet.
It is the job of your administration and Media Specialist to keep teachers up-to-date on what copyright means to educators. Teachers need to know what the consequences are of knowingly violating these laws and regulations. Below, are listed some helpful hints for educators. Following the Guidelines there are many Web Sites that will keep teachers even more up-to-date on this issue.
This presentation is divided into the following sections.
Guidelines for Off-Air Recording of Broadcast Programming for Education Purposes
General Rules of the Law for Educational Photocopying
General Guidelines for CD-ROM's And Computer Software
Fair Use Guidelines for Multimedia
Copyright Guidelines for Music
Guidelines for Off-Air Recording and Videotapes
Guidelines for Off-the Air Recording of Broadcast Programming for Educational Purposes is a product of a congressional committee and is not a part of the law. It does serve as the authority for taping off-air for educational purposes.
The copyright owner has exclusive rights to:
1. Reproduce the work.2. Prepare a derivative work.
3. Distribute the work.
4. Perform the work publicly.
4. Display the work publicly.
In order for a school to use a video without paying royalties for a public performance, ALL FOUR of these criteria must be met.
1. The use must take place in a classroom or similar place of instruction.2. The use must be part of the regular instructional process and not recreational.
3. The use must be in the course of face-to-face teaching activities.
4. The video must be a lawfully made or acquired copy.
These are the guidelines, adopted in 1981, that have been utilized in the courts to judge whether or not copyright has been violated. Companies are going after these kinds of violations. Fines are charged per the number of copies that you have, plus you may have to pay damages for lost earnings accrued by the producer.
Note: These rules apply to the 3 commercial networks and public broadcasting. Cable, satellite and distance learning operate by different rules set up by the copyright owners. A good source on rights to copy cable shows is the magazine, Cable in the Classroom.
There are 9 basic guidelines that you need to consider when videotaping:
1. Taped shows can not be kept for more than 45 after the recording date.
2. Videotaped shows can only be shown within the first 10 days of that 45 day period.
3. Off-air recordings can only be made through a teacher request, not by someone in anticipation of a need.
4. The taped shows can only be shown 2 times within any single class, with the second time being only for reinforcement.
5. After the 10 days the tapes can only be reviewed by the teacher for possible purchase and inclusion into the curriculum.
6. If several teachers ask for the same program, duplicate copies can be made to fill the requests. These copies are subject to the same restrictions listed above.
7. The tapes are not to be altered in any way, though you don't have to show a tape in its entirety.
8. All copies must include the copyright notice as recorded on the broadcast program.
9. These guidelines apply only to nonprofit education institutions, which are expected to establish control procedures to make sure these guidelines are met.
General Rules of the Law for Educational Photocopying
Teachers can do the following copying for his/her own scholarly research, or use in teaching, or preparing to teach a class. Multiple copies (one copy per pupil 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.
1. Brevity-following the following guidelines for amount that can be copied.
2. Spontaneity-Copying is done by the teacher when there is not a reasonable length of time to request and receive permission to copy.
3. 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 or periodical volume during one class term.
Note: Short works such as children's books (picture books) are often less than 2,500 works cannot be copied as a whole; but an excerpt of not more than two published pages or 10% of the book, whichever is the less.
You do not have permission to copy if:
1. Copying is done to create or replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works.
2. The item is consumable. Examples: workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, etc.
3. You are in any way substituting for purchasing books, periodicals, etc.
4. You intend to charge the student more than what the item actually cost to copy.
5. You intend to use it term after term.
General Guidelines for CD-ROM's And Computer Software
An addendum to the 1976 Copyright Act was put in place in 1989 to protect the new area of computer software. Of course, this addendum is quite extensive and we can only give you the high points that most effect educators for the purpose of this presentation.
Foremost, make sure you keep all of your licensing documentation as you purchase software or licenses to copy same. It would be nice if each school building kept this documentation in one safe place.
Software Copyright Protections
1. Make sure you are only loading software onto as many machines as you have licenses. If you buy a "stand-alone" copy you may only have that software on one machine. If you buy a lab pack of 10 you can load 10 machines. Make sure you know the number of machines that are served with a site or network license.
2. You should not multiple load "drivers" from a stand-alone CD-ROM since those are also copyrighted.
3. If you buy an "upgrade" of a program that then becomes your only legal copy of that program. The old copy must be archived or discarded, but can not be loaded on other machines in your district.
4. It is against copyright for a teacher to take home an original disk of a software program he/she is using at school and load it onto a computer at home. The reverse would also be true.
5. Make sure you are following the rules set up by the publisher if you load "shareware" or "freeware" programs.
6. Old copies of computer programs can be given away but, should not be used in the building once they are designated "withdrawn" or no longer usable.
7. If you buy a hybrid or hybrid CD-ROM and pay for only a stand-alone version you can load the drivers on the platform you choose. Once you've chosen the platform that is the only legal place the CD can be.
8. You can legally use one program with one child or group of children as long as you're only on one machine.
9. Anything a student would create and put on disk belongs to the student and not the school.
10. Make sure you know the copyright that applies when you go to download material off of the Internet. If the site asks you not to download then don't.
11. Be aware that even if you load a program with the intent of immediately removing it, and it is already loaded on another machine that is a copyright violation. All programs that have been on a machine, even deleted ones, leave a foot print that is detectable for a considerable period of time.
12. If you are given donated software please respect the intent of the program, i.e., stand-alone, etc. Keep all paperwork on the donation. Please realize that technical support that came with the disk when purchased will probably not transfer to you.
13. Taking parts of a program to use in separate creation can be a violation of copyright. Always give the correct credit and make sure you follow the new multimedia fair use guidelines.
14. Make sure you always have back-up and bootable disks that are updated in case of a computer crash. Make sure networks are backed-up on a regular basis. Make sure your back-up disks, tapes, etc., are kept in a fireproof area.
15. If a school consolidates or moves to a new building the software normally can transfer with you. You might have to reregister the software to keep your technical support going if a new name is used.
16. It is best for your students in programming classes to stay away from commercial games to help them develop their own. All of the graphics, sounds, motion, coding etc., is copyrighted and these publishers are very aggressive in prosecuting these kinds of cases.
Special Note: Computer software companies are aggressively pursuing software violators. We have already had some cases in Iowa that have involved schools. These companies do use "headhunter techniques" when going after violators. They tell their sales people or anyone else who wants to turn someone in that if this case goes to trial and a fine is paid the person turning the school in would get a percentage of the fine.
Extra Special Note: Most of these software cases go to civil court, however, in a recent court case criteria has been set up to make having illegal software copies a felony. (Was we find out the criteria we will list it here.)
A new Internet Copyright law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, was passed in December of 1998. We have not seen a good interpretation as to how this new law will impact schools. The Internet is a fixed medium. This includes pictures, sounds, motion media, e-mail, etc.
When in doubt ask for permission or make sure you stay within the multimedia guidelines.
At this time it is permissible to link to another site without permission, however, it is nice to let their web master know that you have linked.
You normally can download one copy of an article, etc., to make multiple copies you would need permission.
Intellectual property rights are a hot topic at this time. Most sites that know they could have copyright problems list very clearly what they give you as rights. If a site lists their copyright policy please follow it. Remember, sites know who you and when you download.
Be very careful if a web site gives you free copyright with pictures or sound or video, they may not have the right to do so. If you do download off of one of these sites make sure you copy their permission to you to copy and use anything you would like off of their site.
Fair Use Guidelines for Multimedia
The following guidelines were adopted in 1996 to help sort out problems with students and educators who are jumping on the multimedia band wagon. These are guidelines, however, it has been agreed that these would be used to judge whether or not this kind of copyright was being violated. Please note: This is a very abbreviated version of the guidelines. They tell us what can be used from a copyrighted work without previous permission.
If you and your students(6th grade and older) stay within these guidelines you should never have any copyright problems with publishers.
1. Please read the full text for time limits on keeping these multimedia projects before you have to get permission to continue to use them. For teachers this is roughly 2 years.
2. You may use 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less, of a motion media work.
3. You may use 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less, to incorporate into a multimedia project. An entire poem of less than 250 words can be used, but not more than 3 poems by the same poet, or 5 poems by different poets from any one anthology. For poems of greater length, 250 words can still be used, however, no more than 3 excerpts by one poet, or 5 excerpts by different poets from a single anthology.
4. Up to 10%, but never, more than 30 seconds of music and lyrics of a copyrighted piece of work. You may not alter a piece of music so that it changes the basic melody or fundamental character of the work. This pertains to music and music videos
5. Photos and illustrations. No more than 5 images by the same artist or photographer. No more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, from a collective work.
6. Data Bases. Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cells, whichever is less. Field entry is defined as specific item of information, such as as name or Social Security Number. A cell entry is defined as the intersection where a row and a column meet on a spreadsheet.
7. You may not have more than 2 usable copies made of these kinds of projects. One can be placed on reserve status. Multiple creators can each have a copy.
8. Once you do anything outside of these guidelines that apply to to a classroom setting or classroom based project you must get all permissions that are necessary. These projects cannot be placed on the Internet, particularly, without all the permissions granted.
9. By in large, a student multimedia project can be used by the student and kept in his/her portfolio for job seeking purposes.
10. Be very cautious in using any kind of media off of the Internet. Most of the material is copyrighted and enjoys the same protection as any other copyrighted work.
11. There should be a notice on the first screen of every multimedia work that certain material in the presentation was utilized under the multimedia fair use exemption.
12. If you go beyond the classroom project framework you must seek the proper copyright permission.
13. You may make alterations in portions of a copyrighted work only if the alternations support specific instructional objectives. You need to note in your presentation that these alterations have been made.
14. Reproducing or decompilation of copyrighted computer games or code or control mechanisms of same, even for educational use, are outside the scope of these guidelines. There are actual laws covering this issue.
Copyright Guidelines for Music
Music companies are some of the most aggressive in protecting copyright. Many large fines have been leveled at individuals, companies, schools and churches. Again, you can be fined for every illegal copy and lost revenue.
Here are some educational guidelines to follow:
Permissible Uses
1. Emergency copying allows copies to be made to replace purchased copies which may not be available by performance time. However, you still must purchase these copies when they arrive.
2. Copying for the Academic Use Other Than Performance
3. Printed copies which have been purchased may be edited or simplified provided that the fundamental character of the work is not distorted, or the lyrics, if any, are not distorted, and no lyrics are added.
4. A single copy of a student's performance can be made for purposes of evaluation and rehearsal. This copy can be retained by the educational entity or the student.
5. A single copy of a sound recording, i.e., a tape, disc, record or cassette, may be made from the originals which are owned by the educational organization or the teacher for the purpose of constructing aural exercises or examinations and may be retained by the institution or the individual teacher.
Please note that a sound recording may involve three copyrights: one for the music itself, a second for the recording, and a third on the arrangement. If the sound recording is to be used in a public performance or a derivative work will be made, permission must be granted by all copyright owners. Even if the music is in the public domain, the arrangement of the music may not be.
The Fair Use provision in the Copyright Act does allow for some uses of copyrighted materials. The Fair Use Test differs from the Fair Use Guidelines. The Fair Use Test looks at four factors in determining whether or not copying is permissible. The copying of materials using the Fair Use Test can challenged and can only be decided upon by a court of law. The Fair Use Guidelines have been agreed upon by many parties on both sides of the copying issue. As long as one stays within the Guidelines, he/she can be relatively safe from being sued for breach of Copyright.
In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
1. Purpose and Character of Use
A. Commercial nature or nonprofit educational purposes.
B. Preamble Purposes
C. Degree of transformation
2. Nature of the Copyrighted Work
Some works are more deserving of copyright protection than others. (i.e., films are more expensive to create than a pamphlet and therefore have greater protection)
3. Relative Amount
This looks at the amount and substantiality of the copying in relation to the work as a whole. This is difficult because a very small amount of a media such as a video tape might be copied but it might be the most significant portion of the video. (i.e., a video on metamorphosis might be 30 minutes long but the actual emergence of the butterfly from the chrysalis might last only a minute. Copying the minute of emergence is actually capturing the essence of the video)
4. Effect Upon the Market
The fourth, and perhaps the most important, factor to consider is the extent of harm to the market or potential market of the original work caused by the copying. This takes into account harm to the original work as well as derivative works.
Copyright Sites
Bellingham, Washington, Schools' Copyright Rules at: http://www.bham.wednet.edu/copyrght.htm
COPA overview-You need to know what the Children's Online Protection Act is all about. A good overview is at:http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/filteringlegislationsummary.html
Copyright and K-12: Who Pays in the Network Era?-http://www.ed.gov/Technology/Futures/rothman.html
Copyright Clearance Center at: http://www.copyright.com
Copyright for Education-http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/KSD/IT/wwwdev/fullcopyright.html
Copyright Management Center-http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/
The Copyright Website at http://www.benedict.com/
Cut and Paste Plagiarism-http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/%7Ejanicke/plagiary.htm
Cyber Law at Harvard-A good look at one of the fastest growing areas of law, that of protecting intellectual property that is delivered electronically. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2000/readings.shtml
Digital Millenium Copyright Act -This is one of the first interpretations of what this act means to libraries at: http://www.ala.org/washoff/copyright.html
Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Media-http://www.indiana.edu/~ccumc/mmfumas/
Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia at: http://www.louisville.edu/~ddking01/mmgdl01.htm
Music Copyright Explained at: http://www.lib.jmu.edu/org/mla/
Software Publishers Assoc.(SPA) at: http://www.siia.net
The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act:at http://www.ala.org/washoff/teach.html
10 Big Myths About Copyright at: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
U.S. Copyright Office with links to their publications at: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright
Created and maintained by Dee Davis, Xavier High School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Bruce Bergland, Northern Trails AEA, Clear Lake, Iowa.
Last Modified