Public Domain: The public domain is generally defined as consisting of works that are either ineligible for copyright protection or with expired copyrights. Public domain refers to the total absence of copyright protection for work The public domain is a range of abstract materials commonly referred to as intellectual property which are not owned or controlled by anyone. The term indicates that these materials are therefore "public property", and available for anyone to use for any purpose.

No permission whatsoever is needed to copy or use public domain works. Public domain material is available for anyone to use for any purpose, private and commercial. Public domain works can serve as the foundation for new creative works. Public domain works can also be copied and distributed without any permission or paying royalties

Exceptions to Copyright Laws

There are 3 basic exceptions to Copyright Law

Non-copyrightable Works: According to the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright protection cannot be obtained for the following works.

Words and short phrases, such as names, titles, and slogans, Familiar designs or symbols, Mere variations of lettering, coloring, or any typographic ornamentation, Mere listing of ingredients or contents, Ideas, plans, methods, systems, or devices, as distinguished from the

particular manner in which they are expressed or described in a writing, Blank forms, Works consisting completely of information that is common property

containing no original authorship.  This includes works such as standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, schedules of sporting events, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources.

Copyright protection generally is not extended under the to Copyright Act to works of the U.S. Government. Therefore, nearly all works of the U.S. Government may be reproduced, distributed, adapted and publically displayed without infringement liability in the United States under its copyright laws. This does not necessary apply to materials produced by foreign governments.

Fair Use: The doctrine of fair use has developed through a substantial number of court decisions over the years and has been codified in section 107 of the copyright law.

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

The nature of the copyrighted work The amount and substantiality of the portion used in

relation to the copyrighted work as a whole The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or

value of, the copyrighted work

Fair Use for Education includes a bundle of rights that are modified for use for educational

purposes relative to:•Reproducing materials for use in individual classrooms•Derivative works•Public display of copyrighted materials•Public performance

Public Performance and Display

•In order to be exempted from copyright for public performance and public display, face to face teaching must be involved and it must take place in a classroom or similar place devoted to education.•The performance or display must be directly related to teaching content.•No direct or indirect admission charge may be levied.

A derivative work is a work based on or derived from one or more already existing works. Also known as a “new version,” a derivative work is copyrightable if it includes what copyright law calls an “original work of authorship.”

•Generally, new work that incorporates some previously published material.•Minor changes or insignificant changes wouldn’t qualify the work for exemption to copyright infringement.•New work must be original and copyrightable in its own right.•Some examples would be a documentary containing clips from other sources, biographies with excerpts from diaries and letters, a movie based on a play, drawings of photographs, book reviews and parody to name just a few.

Derivative Works

Reproducing Materials for Use in a Classroom

GuidelinesI. Single Copying for TeachersA single copy may be made of any of the following by orfor a teacher at his or her individual request for his or herscholarly research or use in teaching or preparation to teacha class:a. A chapter from a bookb. An article from a periodical or newspaperc. A short story, short essay or short poem, whether or not from a collective workd. A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon from a book, periodical, or newspaper

II. Multiple Copies for Classroom UseMultiple copies (not to exceed in any event more than one copy per pupil in a course) may be made by or for theteacher giving the course for classroom use or discussion; provided that:a. The copying meets the tests of brevity and spontaneityas defined below and,b. Meets the cumulative effect test as defined belowc. Each copy includes a notice of copyright

Spontaneityi. The copying is at the instance and inspiration ofthe individual teacher, andii. The inspiration and decision to use the work and themoment of its use for maximum teaching effectivenessare so close in time that it would be unreasonable toexpect a timely reply to a request for permission.

Cumulative Effecti The copying of the material is for only one course in theschool in which the copies are made.ii Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or twoexcerpts may be copied from the same author, nor morethan three from the same collective work or periodicalvolume during one class term.iii There shall not be more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term.

III. Prohibitions as to I and II AboveNotwithstanding any of the above, the following shall beprohibited:a Copying shall not be used to create or to replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works. Such replacement or substitution may occur whether copies of various works or excerpts there from are accumulatedor reproduced and used separately.b There shall be no copying of or from works intended to be “consumable” in the course of study or of teaching. These include workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and test booklets and answer sheets and like consumable material.c Copying shall not:a substitute for the purchase of books, publishers’ reprints or periodicals;b be directed by higher authority;c be repeated with respect to the same item by the same teacher from term to term.d No charge shall be made to the student beyond the actual cost of the photocopying.

Agreed March 19, 1976.Ad Hoc Committee on Copyright Law Revision:By Sheldon Elliott Steinbach.Author-Publisher Group:Authors League of America:By Irwin Karp, Counsel.Association of American Publishers, Inc.:By Alexander C. Hoffman,Chairman, Copyright Committee.

Guidelines

Used with permission of the School Board of Broward County, Florida