COPYRIGHT, FAIR USE, AND PLAGIARISM

BY ANDREW KENDALL

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COPYRIGHT

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WHAT IS A COPYRIGHT?

• According to Copyright.gov, a “copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S.

Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible

medium of expression.”

• “Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.”

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WHAT DOES COPYRIGHT PROTECT?

• A form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including

literary, dramatic, and musical

• Artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and

architecture.

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COPYRIGHTS DO NOT PROTECT

• Facts

• Ideas

• Systems

• Methods of Operations

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WHAT DOES COPYRIGHT LOOK LIKE?

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HOW LONG DOES A COPYRIGHT LAST?

• According to Chapter 3 of the Copyright Law of the United States:

• The copyright lasts the life of the author plus 70 years.

• The term of the copyright will end at the end of the calendar year.

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IS A COPYRIGHT GOOD IN OTHER COUNTRIES?

• The United States does have agreements that allow for the copyrights of its citizens to

transfer to other countries.

• Not all countries have this agreement with the United States

• For a list of countries that do CLICK HERE

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FAIR USE

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WHAT IS FAIR USE?

• Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the

unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances.

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WHAT CAN YOU USE FAIR USE FOR?

• Criticism

• Comment

• News Reporting

• Teaching

• Scholarship

• Research

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THE FOUR FACTORS OF FAIR USE

1. Purpose and character of work

2. Nature of the copyrighted work

3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used as a whole

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

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PURPOSE AND CHARACTER OF WORK

• Courts look at how the party is claiming fair use using the copyrighted work

• If you are using it for nonprofit education and noncommercial use, then you are more likely to

get fair use.

• “Transformative” uses are more likely to be considered fair.

• This is when something new is added with a further purpose or different character.

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NATURE OF THE COPYRIGHTED WORK

• The more creative or imaginative the work is, the less likely that it would be considered

fair use.

• More factual work such as a technical article, or news item tend to be more acceptable

to be used in fair use.

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AMOUNT AND SUBSTANTIALITY OF THE PORTION USED AS A WHOLE

• Generally, the larger the amount of work used, the less likely that you will be given fair

use.

• That is not always the case, as some courts have found the use of the entire work as fair, and

others have ruled that even a small amount of the material was not fair.

• This is more to due with the selection of the work used and how vital it was to the importance of

the work.

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EFFECT OF THE USE UPON THE POTENTIAL MARKET FOR OR VALUE OF THE COPYRIGHTED WORK

• Here the court will look at whether or not the unlicensed work would affect the

potential appearance or sales of the licensed work.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

• IF you wish to know more about the specifics regarding fair use CLICK HERE

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THE SYMBOL FOR FAIR USE

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PLAGIARISM

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WHAT DOES PLAGIARISM MEAN?

• According to Marriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Plagiarism means:

• To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own

• To use (another’s production) without crediting the source

• To commit literacy theft

• To present as new and original an idea or product derived form an existing source

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WHAT CONSTITUTES “COMMON KNOWLEDGE?”

• The idea of “common knowledge is rather vague, but you ask a couple of questions:

1. Did I know this information before I took this class?

2. Did I think of this myself?

• If you can answer yes to both of these, them your point could be considered common

knowledge.

• It would no longer be considered plagiarism

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3 STEPS TO AVOID PLAGIARIZING

• According to the Writing Center at UNC, there are three steps to avoiding plagiarism:

1. Change the way you view citations – take a more positive approach to citing

2. Improve your note-taking skills – look at what the author is trying to say

3. Locate the appropriate style manual – you don’t need to learn every format for citing, just

use a style manual.

• For more on avoiding Plagiarism, visit HERE

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ONLINE RESOURCES FOR CITATIONS

• The Purdue Owl

• The Citation Machine

• Easy Bib

• If you are on Google Chrome, then this add-on will cite any website that you visit in

deferent formats.

• CLICK HERE

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CLASSROOM POLICY ON PLAGIARIZING

• First Offense

• Must resubmit work with a maximum grade of a C

• Submit short report on Plagiarism

• Second Offense

• Must resubmit work with maximum grade of F

• Submit short report on Plagiarism

• Email Parents and notify Administration

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REFERENCES

• Copyright and fair use guidelines for teachers. (No Date). [Graphic representation]. Retrieved from

http://marvin.mll.gvsu.edu/lrc/copyright.pdf

• The Writing Center at UNC. (No date). Plagiarism. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/fair-

use/more-info.html

• United States Copyright Office. (No Date). Copyright in general. Retrieved from

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#countries

• United States Copyright Office. International copyright relations of the united states. Retrieved from

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ38a.pdf

• United States Copyright Office. (No date). More information on fair use. Retrieved from

http://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

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