Copyright and Licensing

What is copyright?

Copyright is a statutory privilege extended to creators of works fixed in a tangible medium of expression.– Copyright laws legally protect the potential

monetary value of creative endeavors as a way of encouraging the producers of information and entertainment to publish their work, and thus to share it with others.

Copyright owners have exclusive rights to:

Reproduce the work Prepare a derivative work Distribute the work Perform the work publicly Display the work publicly

Establishing Copyright

In the USA, everything created privately and originally after 1977 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not. (Berne Copyright Convention). Copyright is established the moment a work is fixed in tangible form and lasts until 95 years after the author dies.

Copyright notice

Although not necessary, a notice of copyright helps strengthen the protection. The correct form of notice:

“Copyright [dates] by [author/owner]

You may use © in a circle instead of copyright but not (C) in parentheses.

Fair Use Four factors are to be considered in

determining whether or not a particular use of a copyrighted work is fair:1. Purpose and character of the use

(nonprofit educational use vs.commercial purposes)

2. Nature of the copyrighted work3. Amount and substantiality of the

portionused in relation to the work as a whole

4. Effect of the use upon potential marketfor value of the work.

Fair Use Purpose

The intent of fair use is to allow for criticism, commentary, news reporting, research, education and parody about copyrighted works NOT to allow schools and educational institutions free rein to use copyrighted materials, especially if those works are published or viewed outside of the classroom.

Intellectual Property

The term intellectual property refers to personal rights of ownership acquired originally or derivatively from intellectual creations. For example: copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

Trademarks and Patents

A patent is a grant of exclusive rights issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that gives an inventor a 20-year monopoly on the right to "practice" or make, use, and sell his or her invention.

A trademark is any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify his or her goods and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others.

Photocopying

Teachers can do the following copying for their own scholarly research, use in teaching, or preparing to teach a class. Multiple copies (one copy per student in a course) can be made if it meets the criteria of brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect and if each copy contains a notice of copyright.

Brevity A complete poem printed on no more than

two pages or an excerpt from a longer poem not to exceed 250 words.

A complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words may be copied in its entirety. For other kinds of prose, such as a play or novel, a copy must not be more than 1,000 words or 10% of the whole, whichever is less. No matter how short the work, one may copy an excerpt of 500 words.

One chart, graph, diagram, cartoon, or picture per book or periodical issue.

Cumulative Effect

The copying is only for one course and only nine instances of multiple copying per course during one class term is allowed. Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, nor more than three from the same collective work during one class term.

Children’s Picture Books

Short works such as these are often less than 2,500 words and cannot be copied as a whole.

An excerpt of not more than two published pages or 10% of the book, whichever is less, can be copied.

If a school consolidates or moves to a new building, the software transfers as well.

Purchasers are allowed to make one backup copy of software for archival purposes only.

Keep all software licensing documentation.

Computer Software and CD-ROMs

Shareware

Shareware allows users to try software before purchasing it. If it is found to be of use, the user then pays a fee to the shareware author. The fee paid is determined by the author (usually found in a “read me” file with the software) and is paid on the honor system.

Freeware

The freeware software producer retains the copyright to the product however no fee is charged.

Freeware generally comes with many of the restrictions found in shareware or fee licensed software.

Public Domain Items placed intentionally into public

domain by the author/creator are not copyrighted. Material on which the copyright has expired is also considered public domain.

Granting something to the public domain is a complete abandonment of all rights and derivative works can be made and copyrighted from public domain material.

Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines

You may use:– 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less, of a

motion media work.– 10% or 1,000 words, whichever is less, to

incorporate into a multimedia project.– Up to 10%, but never more than 30

seconds, of music and lyrics.

Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines You may use:

– No more than 5 images by the same artist or photographer. No more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, of a collective work. (photos and illustrations).

– Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cells, whichever is less, of a database.

Violation of Copyright Violation of copyright laws is usually a

civil matter, resulting in lawsuits instead of criminal trials. However, if the case involves more than 10 copies and a value of over $2,500, it can be made a felony. Under U.S. law, infringement may result in civil damages of up to $100,000 and/or criminal penalties of up to five years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.

Following copyright laws and guidelines allows you to: Be a good role model. Support creative endeavors and the

ability to profit from them. Avoid lawsuits and other trouble!

Sources Joseph, Linda C. (1999). CyberBee Copyright Workshop, [Online].

Available: World Wide Web: http://www.cyberbee.com/copyrt.html McKenzie, Jamie. (1996). Keeping it Legal: Questions arising out of

Web site management, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.fno.org/jun96/legal.html

Northern Trails Education Agency (1999). To Copy or Not to Copy - That is the Question, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.aea2.k12.ia.us/Tutorials/Copyright/Copyright_.html

O'Mahoney P.J. Benedict. (1995). Copyright Website, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.benedict.com/

Software & Information Industry Association. (1999). Copyright Glossary, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.siia.net/piracy/programs/glossary.htm

Templeton, Brad. 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained, [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.htm

U. S. Copyright Office. [Online]. Available: World Wide Web: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/