1. Copyright Presentation: Use of Consumables
Created by Lydia Hordges
For
Multimedia and Web Design for Educators
ITEC 7445

2. What is copyright and why is copyright important?
Copyright is the legal protection given to certain kinds of creative works – poetry, plays, novels, texts, maps, computer programs, art work, movies, to name a few. Copyright gives the author of the work certain exclusive rights – the right to distribute copies, make new works based on the original work, display the work, perform in public, post on the internet, among others. These rights are balanced by certain uses that do not require permission – fair use, some specific educational uses, etc.

3. After a certain period of time, copyright expires, and the work comes into the public domain. Once in the public domain, anyone is free to use the work without gaining permission from the author/former copyright holder.

4. Fair Use and how it applies to Education
Fair Use is a concept in the Copyright Act. A “fair use” is copying any protected material (texts, sounds, images, etc.) for a limited and “transformative” purpose, like criticizing, commenting, parodying, news reporting, or teaching the copyrighted work. Under the US copyright laws, fair use “is not an infringement of copyright.”

5. Judges typically consider four factors of fair use that are set forth in the Copyright Act. • the purpose and character of your use (this is sometimes called the “transformative factor”) • the nature of the copyrighted work (e.g., is the work highly creative fiction warranting broader protection, or is it highly factual warranting narrower protection?) • the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, (as compared both to the underlying work and the work in which the copying is used) • the effect of the use upon the potential market (e.g., did the copyrighted work lose market share or potential market share?).

6. Copyright with Consumables and how it affects Teachers
Many teachers use worksheets and workbooks. These works are called “consumables”. Consumables are goods used by individuals and businesses that must be replaced regularly because they wear out or are used up. Teachers feel that fair use should apply to consumables when making copies of worksheets and re-using workbooks because they are used for educational purposes.

7. The copyright laws regarding consumables are as such:
There shall be no copying of or from works intended to be “consumable” or ephemeral (lasting for only a short time), in the course of study or teaching-such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, test booklets and answer sheets.

8. Workbooks that you can copy are what are referred to as “Blackline masters”. A Blackline master is a resource book usually bought by schools for their students to use. It can be about any topic from math to reading; poetry to comprehension. If the school were to purchase a book for each of its students, the cost would be astronomical. Photocopying is the answer. But to buy one book and make many copies of the pages is actually a breach of copyright. The author of the book could sue schools for doing this. But there are books written especially with photocopying in mind and these are called Blackline masters. These books have a certain number of pages that it is legal to photocopy many times. Simply by making photocopies of the relevant page, the teacher can now provide worksheets for students at a reasonable cost. The school only need buy one book per class, bringing their costs down significantly. In fact the book can be used over and over for a number of years and classes, becoming a great resource for very little outlay.

9. Which of these well-meaning moms is actually doing the right thing?
1. A mom of seven, Jane is always looking for ways to be frugal, such as having her children use page-protector overlays and wipe-off markers instead of writing in their workbooks. This way, she doesn’t have to buy extra copies.
2. While cleaning out the attic, Amy found a partially used workbook that her daughter used when she was in school. Amy gives it to her son to use.
3. With an unemployed husband, Amy needs money for curricula. Since her 7-year-old did his math problems on paper instead of in his consumable workbook, she decides to resell the math book.
Answers

10. 1. My kids didn’t write in the book
1. My kids didn’t write in the book. NO This is the single least-known and least-understood copyright rule. Unless the publisher gives permission for purchasers to make multiple copies, you must buy a separate workbook for each child. Whether your children write directly in the workbook, on notebook paper, or use an acetate overlay, a consumable workbook that has been used in any way, even if no writing appears on its pages, is still “used” and may not be reused without violating copyright law.
2. What about “partly used” workbooks? Maybe Noted intellectual-property attorney Susan Spann says: “It is permissible to use the unused portions of the workbook (minus the used pages) for another child. The used portions should be discarded. Also, it is legal to give a workbook to someone else if you only used a few pages, but you should remove the used pages from the book to ensure the new owner does not violate copyright by reusing the pages.”.
3. I want to preserve the original and resell it. NO Only non-consumable textbooks may be resold or shared. You can legally make one archival copy of a copyrighted work in case the original is destroyed, but “archival copies can’t be used as ‘second copies’ or given away to another person,” says Susan Spann.

11. References