COPYRIGHT, FAIR USE, AND CREATIVE COMMONS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE CREATING MULTI-MEDIA PROJECTS!

“The exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material.”

(Oxford Dictionaries)

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

COPYRIGHT FACTS:

• Length of copyright varies (sometimes the life of the creator plus 70 years).

• Copyright notice is no longer required, therefore the absence of does not mean it is not copyrighted.

• When in doubt, assume that a work is copyright protected!

(Copyright Society of the U.S.A.)

“Under the Fair Use Doctrine of the U.S. Copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work . . . for purposes such as commentary, news reporting, and scholarly reports. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances.” (U.S. Copyright Office)

WHAT IS FAIR USE?

1. Purpose of the use

2. Nature of the copyrighted work

3. Amount of the material used

4. Effect of the use upon the potential market or value of the original work

FACTORS DETERMINING FAIR USE

(New York University)

“Unless you are absolutely sure, relying on the doctrine of “fair use” to avoid seeking permission to copy a work is risky.

. . . The best course of action is simply to seek permission for all copied material you intend to use.”

(Copyright Society of the U.S.A.)

KNOW THE RISKS

1. Look for works in the public domain.

2. Use materials with licenses.

ALTERNATIVES TO USING COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS

WHAT IS PUBLIC DOMAIN?

• “A public domain work is a creative work that is not protected by copyright and which may be freely used by everyone.”

• Works enter the public domain if:

• Copyright has expired• Copyright criteria have not been met• It is a work of the U.S. government

(New York University)

Online sources for finding works in the Public Domain:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson1085/PDSources.html

http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com/

Watch this video to find out:

WHAT IS CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSING?

Search for Creative Commons licensed works:

http://creativecommons.org/

Works Cited

"Can I Use Someone Else's Work? Can Someone Else Use Mine?" U.S. Copyright Office. U.S. Copyright Office,

16 July 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.

Cann, A. J. “Creative Commons.” Image. Flickr. AJC1’s Photostream, 30 July 2008. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

“Computer Music Icon Theme Multimedia.” Image. Pixabay. Nemo, 03 April 2012. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

“Copyright.” Definition of in Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, April 2010. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

"Copyright and Fair Use." Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology LibGuide. Polytechnic Institute of New

York University, 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2013.

“Copyright Basics." Copyrightkids. Copyright Society of the U.S.A., 2007. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.

“Copyright Symbol Red.” Image. Pixabay. Nemo, 16 April 2012. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

"Creative Commons License-Creative Commons Kiwi." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2013

Creative Commons.org. Creative Commons, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

"Online Sources for Finding Works in the Public Domain." ReadWriteThink. International Reading

Association/National Council of Teachers of English, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.

Valenza, Joyce. "Copyright-Friendly and Copyleft (Mostly!) Images and Sound." Copyrightfriendly. n.d. Web. 23

Jan. 2013.