Copyright Protection

Copyright seems to be an easy concept to understand but in reality is difficult to interpret.   It gives the author of literature or art the exclusive right to copy, distribute and make more of their creation based on the original and perform or display the work publically.   Since 1978 you don’t even have to apply for a copyright protection, it’s assumed so the author can have control.  When I was a teacher in Florida, our principal wanted us to realize and model the law and reminded us that we were not allowed to show whole movies in our rooms.  Sometimes as a special reward, teachers would show a Disney movie or something similar.  But we came to realize this was illegal because we were showing the movie to the whole class and this was potentially taking away from Disney profits.  The only time I really think about copyright protection in my life now is when I’m writing a paper for my classes.  But this is always done under the Fair Use condition.

Fair Use is one of the few conditions that copyrighted material can be used without permission from the author.  When I site an author of an idea in a paper, I don’t have to contact the author and ask if I can use the material.  I can do this because it’s for educational purposes and because I’m not using a lot of the material.  But there are other ways you can use copyrighted material without permission.  If you won’t make money from it, if the work is more factual than creative it is considered Fair Use. But these are not the only guidelines and that is why copyright protection can get confusing.  I remember a history teacher that wanted to show Saving Private Ryan to class studying WWII.  But it was decided that he really only should show the first 3 minutes, which is what Fair Use covers, and the students would get the idea of what the fighting was like.  I found a great chart to show teachers how much of copyrighted material they can and cannot use.

Work or Materials to be used for Educational Purposes	Fair Use Restrictions for Face-to-Face Teaching	Illegal Use without Explicit Permission from Creator/Author
Chapter in a book	Single copy for teacher for research, teaching, or class preparation. Multiple copies (one per student per class) okay if material is (a) adequately brief, (b) spontaneously copied, (c) in compliance with cumulative effect test. Copyright notice and attribution required.	Multiple copies used again and again without permission. Multiple copies to create anthology. Multiple copies to avoid purchase of textbook or consumable materials.
Newspaper/magazine article	Same as above. Multiple copies of complete work of less than 2,500 words and excerpts up to 1,000 words or 10% of work, whichever is less. For works of 2,500-4,999 words, 500 words may be copied.	Same as above
Prose, short story, short essay, Web article		Same as above
Poem	Same as for first item. Multiple copies allowed of complete poem up to 250 words -- no more than two printed pages. Multiple copies of up to 250 words from longer poems.	Same as above
Artwork or graphic image - chart, diagram, graph, drawing, cartoon, picture from periodical, newspaper, or book, Web page image	Same as for first item. No more than 5 images of an artist/photographer in one program or printing and not more than 10% or 15% of images from published collective work, whichever is less.	Same as first item Incorporation or alteration into another form or as embellishment, decoration for artistic purposes for other than temporary purposes.
Motion media - film and videotape productions	Single copy of up to 3 minutes or 10% of the whole, whichever is less. Spontaneity required.	Multiple copies prohibited. Incorporation or alteration into another form as embellishment for artistic purposes for other than temporary purposes prohibited.
Music -sheet music, songs, lyrics, operas, musical scores, compact disk, disk, or cassette taped recordings	Single copy of up to 10% of a musical composition in print, sound, or multimedia form.	Same as immediately above
Broadcast programs	Single copy of off-air simultaneous broadcast may be used for a period not to exceed the first 45 consecutive calendar days after recording date. Use by only individual teachers. Copyright notice required.	Same as immediately above. May not be done at direction of superior. May not be altered.

Creative Commons Licenses seem to be something that has become more popular since the expansion of the internet. This is a special license that allows the author to keep copyright protections but allows the public to copy and distribute work when they give the author credit.  I found some very interesting authors who are using Creative Commons Licenses.  Flicker, is a photo or image web site that allows the public to copy and use the photos as long as they give the author credit. Nine Inch Nails has given away part one of a 1-4 set and offered the other parts for between $5 and $300 for a full box set.  They have reported making almost a million dollars in sales just from the box set.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology OpenCourse Ware is also under the Creative Commons License and has over 1900 courses available for free. Wikipedia has changed from a GNU (open source license) to a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. 

References:

A Teacher's Guide to Fair Use and Copyright. (1997). Copyright and Fair Use Defined. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Purpose of use

Teaching Copyright. (2010). Fair Use Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/fair-use-faq

Creative Commons. (2006).  Creative Commons About. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://creativecommons.org/about

Creative Commons. (2006).  Creative Commons Who Uses CC?.  Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://creativecommons.org/who-uses-cc