Respecting Copyright Laws for Educators

Dan Davis

Kennesaw State University

Today, there are many new

ways in which intellectual
property can be taught, read,
shared, copied, disseminated,
stolen, and lost.
(Devereaux Lewis, 71)

Grants owners rights to protect

his or her work

The copyrighted work can be in

any medium, even online
images.

Allows the owner to reproduce,

display, and distribute copies of
the original work

Copyrights after 1978 last the

author lifetime plus 70 years
and take effect immediately.

Is meant to promote growth of a

medium, which is especially true
in the connected world today

Fair use is the notion that using

copyrighted material in a reasonable
manner is fair to the copyright
owner.
Use of copyrighted works fairly
must follow these basic guidelines:
1.

Purpose of using the

copyrighted work

2.

Nature of the opyrighted work

3.

Amount of the work used

4.

Effect of the use on the market

for the copyright owner.

Educational settings can use

copyrighted work if it is for
criticism, comment, reporting,
teaching, or research under fair use
guidelines.
(US Copyright Code, as cited by Carpenter, 12)

A teacher uses images

from the Internet to show
examples of a curriculum
concept in his or her class.

A student uses an image

as a foundation for a work
of art that transforms the
original image into one of
his or her own.

An image is used in a
small setting (a
classroom) for purposes of
discussion where no gain
is sought.

Copyright
Well-established in law for

centuries as outlined in the

USA Copyright Act

Encourages ongoing creation

of new works

Carries stiff fines and

penalties for violations

Applies to all types of media

seen in the classroom

Fair Use
Allows the use of copyrighted

material without the owners

permission in an educational
setting
Fleixible due to popularity of
online search engines and
repositories
Normally not challenged by
copyright holders
Applies to all types of media
seen in the classroom

 Media literacy must be taught to

educators to dispel myths about

copyrights and fair use.

Fair use policies in todays modern,

connected classroom spawn

confusion and distrust for some
teachers, costing their students
valuable learning opportunities.

This video gives excellent examples

on how educators can use online

images and general media literacy in
an effort to expand popular interest
in curriculum topics.

Do any of these situations violate copyright and fair use laws?

Scenario 1: Mr. Judy is a teacher who wants to amuse his students by

making funny memes to display on his desktop background. He copies

images and adds witty sayings to the pictures, then saves them as his own
work. Is this fair use of the original image?

Scenario 2: Mrs. Raymond begins an image-based questioning unit with a

discussion of several notable photographs from the war in Syria. She

displays her original PowerPoint that includes twelve photographs, along
with location, date, and battle information. Does she violate any fair use

guidelines?

Scenario 3: Ms. Austin assigns a food web poster project to her 7th grade

class. Many of her students ask to print pictures from the Internet to put
on their posters. She allows this because she understands copyright and
fair use laws. What must the students do to use the images fairly?

No, this is not fair use of the image because it exceeds the use
necessary for any intended educational purpose since it is for
entertainment, and is highly creative. This is a copyright and fair use
violation.
Scenario 2: This is acceptable use of the images. The teacher uses a small
portion of the images to demonstrate a specific questioning skill in the
curriculum. The photos solicits thought by her students. Also, it is a nonconsumable work that is only available inside her classroom.
Scenario 1:

The students must use fewer than five images from a single
photographer. Students should print images directly from the Internet to
include and display source and reference information on their project. If
students copy-and-paste the image into a document for printing, this may
be a violation of fair use.

Scenario 3:

Want to test yourself

further?
Check out this education

Copyright Quiz from the

Copyright Clearance
Center

Try this in-depth Copyright

Test from Hall Davidson.

How are your copyright

skills?
Check out the answers to

the Copyright Test from

Hall Davidson.

Additional help can be found

on the Copyright Confusion

Wiki.

Bicklein, S., & Kienstra, K. (2015). Copyrights and permissions. Radiation Therapist, 21 (1), 84-87.
Carpenter, C. C. (2013). Copyright infringement and the second generation of social media: Why Pinterest users
should be protected from copyright infringement by the fair use defense. Journal of Internet Law, 16 (7), 121.
Copyright Clearance Center. (2005). Copyright basics: What is copyright law? Retrieved from
http://www.copyright.com/Services/copyrightoncampus/basics/law.html.
Davidson, H. (2001). Copyright Primer. Retrieved from http://halldavidson.net/quiz1.pdf.
Davidson, H. (Date unknown). Guidelines Limit. Retrieved from http://halldavidson.net/2-GuidelinesLimit.mov.
Devereaux Lewis, C. (2012). Copyright concerns in visual resources collections: Clarifying the issues
surrounding the use of images in education. Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law, 23 (1),
69-109.
Gerhardt, D., and Wessel, M. (2010). Fair Use & Fairness on Campus, 11 N.C. J. L. & TECH. 461, 485.
Media Education Lab. (2012) VIDEO: The cost of copyright confusion for media literacy. University of Rhode
Island. Retrieved from http://mediaeducationlab.com/video-cost-copyright-confusion-media-literacy.
Meiderstma, J. (2014). Fair use 101: Why do we need fair use? The Ohio State University Copyright Corner.
Retrieved from https://library.osu.edu/blogs/copyright/2014/02/17/fair-use-101-why-do-we-need-fair-use/.
University System of Georgia. Fair Use Checklist. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.columbia.edu/fair-usechecklist.