Fair Use and Copyright For Teachers All information from the U.S. Copyright Office: Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians. Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.

Plagiarism implies a violation, but Fair Use is used to describe situations where using someone else’s work is allowed.

The legal definition of “Fair Use” is a grey area According to the U.S. Copyright office, there are four legal guidelines used to establish what is Fair Use rather than copyright violation. These apply in all situations. Educational use is also tested against the Brevity and Spontaneity Standards

The Brevity Standard: How much of the original work are you using? Photo by acordova on Filcker.comacordova

The Spontaneity Standard: You have to find it too soon to using it to acquire copyright

1) “The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes”

2) The nature of the copyrighted work

3) The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

By John Hartnup Ukslim on Flicker.comJohn Hartnup “Special works”

4) The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

The big deciding factor: Are you taking money away from the original creator of the content?

By John HartnupJohn Hartnup Ukslim on Flicker.com

Resources for Teachers 1) View the complete Copyright law for librarians and educators PDFCopyright law for librarians and educators 2) Stanford’s Fair Use site, with a complete educational fair use and copyright online book. Stanford’s Fair Use site 3) The Library of Congress has a on online PD course about Copyright and primary sources.online PD course 4) Creative Commons content search Creative Commons content search

Citations for sources and handouts Crews, Kenneth D. Copyright law for librarians and educators: creative strategies and practical solutions. American Library Association, The Creative Commons Informational Flyer can be found at commons-informational-flyer_eng.pdf commons-informational-flyer_eng.pdf The Hall Davidson Copyright and Fair Use chart can be found at