Copyright Ashlee Karg

What is copyright? Copyright is the law that grants ownership to the author or authors of an original work. Material covered by copyright law cannot be used without the owner’s permission except in cases such as the Fair Use clause.

Fair Use Fair Use refers to materials that can be used without permission of the owner. These materials are usually used to inform society, whether that be for criticism, comment, research, news reporting, scholarship, or non-profit educational use. The Fair Use clause applies to everyone that uses copyrighted material in a non-competitive way, which means that the material is not used in any way that might affect the sale of the material by the owner.

Fair Use cont. Conditions: ▫the use of copyrighted material cannot be competitive ▫the amount of material used in comparison to the whole of the copyrighted material is considered ▫the way in which the material is used and for what purpose the material is used is also considered

Copyright Infringement If copyrighted material is used without permission and it does not meet Fair Use conditions, a person may be charged up to $30,000 for each work infringed and attorney’s fees for the copyright owner for un-willful infringement. For willful infringement, a person may be charged up to $150,000 for each work infringed and attorney’s fees for the copyright owner.

Copyrighted Words Text may be copied without permission, according to the Fair Use clause, as long as: ▫the materials are cited ▫only portion(s) of the material are used (up to 10% or 1,000 words, whichever is less; only 250 words of a poem may be used) ▫the material is not used for an overly extended amount of time without permission having been granted by the owner

Copyrighted music The rules for copyrighted music are similar to those of copyrighted rules. No more than 10% of the total work and no more than 30 seconds of the music and lyrics may be used.

Copyrighted Film These rules are similar to the pervious two categories; only 10% of the total or a total of three minutes, whichever is shorter, may be used.

Copyright in the Classroom Teachers are given some room to move within the rules of copyright law. Television broadcasts may be taped and aired in the classroom without permission as long as the program was aired on public channels (not cable), the tape is shown within 10 days after the recording, and the tape is destroyed within 45 days after the recording. Exceptions to these rules must be requested from the owner of the copyright.

Gaining Permission People that want to use material that is protected by copyright law can use this material if they gain permission from the copyright owner. This permission can be gained by contacting the copyright owner and receiving written permission that they are allowing you to use their material. Permission can also be gained using the Copyright Clearance Center (

Works Cited r_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.htmlhttp://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fai r_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html tmlhttp:// tml rty/cprtindx.htmhttp:// rty/cprtindx.htm