Q: What is Copyright Law?
A: Copyright Law is a set of laws meant to protect the creator of something. Not only does someone who created something want to be appropriately compensated for his or her creation, but the creator also wants to be able to maintain some control over how that creation is used and shared.
Q: What do I need to do to get permission to use a copyrighted work?
A: First, identify who holds the copyright. Then, you must obtain a license to use the work from the copyright holder. The license from the copyright holder will tell you how you can use the work as well as how he or she would like to be attributed. The license may be granted to you for a small fee or for just giving appropriate attribution to the creator.
Q: I keep hearing about Fair Use. What is that?
A: Fair Use is a guideline in which a user may have limited use of a copyrighted work created by someone else without having to get permission first. Fair Use is built on the belief that the public should be allowed to freely use parts of copyrighted materials for criticism, news reporting, parody, research, and teaching.
Q: How do I know if it qualifies as fair use or not?
A: Review these questions: What is the purpose of your using it? What is
the nature of the work? What quantity of the work are you planning on
using? What will the effect of your use be? If you can answer that you
are using it for educational purposes, that the work is published
non-fiction, you are only going to use a small portion, and your use
will not cause the copyright holder to lose money because the students
are not purchasing their product, then it is probably safe to assume
Fair Use. Here is a Fair Use Checklist to help you determine if it really is Fair Use or not.
Q: What about Public Domain? Is that safe for me to use?
A: Content that is considered Public Domain is works that are not protected by Copyright Law anymore. Since items that fall within the Public Domain are not copyrighted, you can use them without obtaining a license or paying a fee. Everyone gets unrestricted access. Titles, names, ideas, facts, and government documents all fall under Public Domain. Works that have fallen out of copyright, including anything published before 1923, are in the Public Domain as well as works that have been allocated to Public Domain by their authors.
Q: I have a workbook that I use in my face-to-face class. Can I use it with my online class?
A: It depends. If it is something that each student in your class has to
have one to use, then, no. If you purchased a workbook that allows you
to make copies of its pages for your students, yes; however, it must be
available on a password protected website.
Q: I downloaded some videos from a website I used to have a paid
subscription to, but my subscription has lapsed. I can still use those
videos, right?
A: No. Think of it like a movie rental. You pay for the length of time
you have it, then when that time is up, you don't have access to it
anymore.
Q: I am teaching this class online and I know I will teach the same
class next year. Do I really have to redesign everything from year to
year?
A: Yes. Just like you clean up your physical classroom and take down
bulletin boards, you need to clean up your online classroom as well.
Besides, you should not leave any content up any longer than you would
let your face-to-face students have access to it.
Q: There is a movie that goes really well with the unit I am currently
teaching. Can I put up a digital version of the entire movie for my
online students to watch?
A: No. You can only post the parts you would be able to watch in a
traditional classroom time frame. For example, if you are watching
clips, you can only post the clips you would watch. If you are watching
the whole movie but the class only meets 50 minutes, you cannot post
more than you would be able to watch in that class period at a time.
Q: I am only going to leave content up for my online students for a very
short period of time. Do I really have to put it under password
protection?
A: Yes. Without the password protection, anyone can access it. Even if
it is up for a short period of time, it is a copyright violation.
Q: Do I really have to give a citation for this picture/content/whatever?
A: Do you really want to explain to your students why it's okay for you
but not for them when it isn't okay for you? Yes, cite everything.
Q: I found some content on another website that I really want to use.
Can't I just copy and paste it to my website if it's password protected?
A: No. But you can create a link to the website that your students can access.
Tips:
There are plenty of flow charts to help you determine if you are violating copyright laws or not, such as this one for Copyrighted Pictures, this one for general Educational Fair Use, and this one on langwitches.org
that explains everything about Copyright from Fair Use to Public Domain
to Creative Commons and the different types of attributions. Remember
that these are the types of things that are created in the hopes that it
will make figuring out if you can use it and what you have to do to use
it a little easier, but these flow charts are not the ultimate
authority.
Go ahead and have a form letter ready to edit and send to ask a
copyright holder for permission to use his or her published work. The
University of Michigan has a page that discusses Obtaining Permission
as well as a link to a permission letter template. There are also
plenty of other copyright permission letter templates available online.
Q: What is Copyright Law?
A: Copyright Law is a set of laws meant to protect the creator of something. Not only does someone who created something want to be appropriately compensated for his or her creation, but the creator also wants to be able to maintain some control over how that creation is used and shared.
Q: What do I need to do to get permission to use a copyrighted work?
A: First, identify who holds the copyright. Then, you must obtain a license to use the work from the copyright holder. The license from the copyright holder will tell you how you can use the work as well as how he or she would like to be attributed. The license may be granted to you for a small fee or for just giving appropriate attribution to the creator.
Q: I keep hearing about Fair Use. What is that?
A: Fair Use is a guideline in which a user may have limited use of a copyrighted work created by someone else without having to get permission first. Fair Use is built on the belief that the public should be allowed to freely use parts of copyrighted materials for criticism, news reporting, parody, research, and teaching.
Q: How do I know if it qualifies as fair use or not?
A: Review these questions: What is the purpose of your using it? What is the nature of the work? What quantity of the work are you planning on using? What will the effect of your use be? If you can answer that you are using it for educational purposes, that the work is published non-fiction, you are only going to use a small portion, and your use will not cause the copyright holder to lose money because the students are not purchasing their product, then it is probably safe to assume Fair Use. Here is a Fair Use Checklist to help you determine if it really is Fair Use or not.
Q: What about Public Domain? Is that safe for me to use?
A: Content that is considered Public Domain is works that are not protected by Copyright Law anymore. Since items that fall within the Public Domain are not copyrighted, you can use them without obtaining a license or paying a fee. Everyone gets unrestricted access. Titles, names, ideas, facts, and government documents all fall under Public Domain. Works that have fallen out of copyright, including anything published before 1923, are in the Public Domain as well as works that have been allocated to Public Domain by their authors.
Q: I have a workbook that I use in my face-to-face class. Can I use it with my online class?
A: It depends. If it is something that each student in your class has to have one to use, then, no. If you purchased a workbook that allows you to make copies of its pages for your students, yes; however, it must be available on a password protected website.
Q: I downloaded some videos from a website I used to have a paid subscription to, but my subscription has lapsed. I can still use those videos, right?
A: No. Think of it like a movie rental. You pay for the length of time you have it, then when that time is up, you don't have access to it anymore.
Q: I am teaching this class online and I know I will teach the same class next year. Do I really have to redesign everything from year to year?
A: Yes. Just like you clean up your physical classroom and take down bulletin boards, you need to clean up your online classroom as well. Besides, you should not leave any content up any longer than you would let your face-to-face students have access to it.
Q: There is a movie that goes really well with the unit I am currently teaching. Can I put up a digital version of the entire movie for my online students to watch?
A: No. You can only post the parts you would be able to watch in a traditional classroom time frame. For example, if you are watching clips, you can only post the clips you would watch. If you are watching the whole movie but the class only meets 50 minutes, you cannot post more than you would be able to watch in that class period at a time.
Q: I am only going to leave content up for my online students for a very short period of time. Do I really have to put it under password protection?
A: Yes. Without the password protection, anyone can access it. Even if it is up for a short period of time, it is a copyright violation.
Q: Do I really have to give a citation for this picture/content/whatever?
A: Do you really want to explain to your students why it's okay for you but not for them when it isn't okay for you? Yes, cite everything.
Q: I found some content on another website that I really want to use. Can't I just copy and paste it to my website if it's password protected?
A: No. But you can create a link to the website that your students can access.
Tips:
There are plenty of flow charts to help you determine if you are violating copyright laws or not, such as this one for Copyrighted Pictures, this one for general Educational Fair Use, and this one on langwitches.org that explains everything about Copyright from Fair Use to Public Domain to Creative Commons and the different types of attributions. Remember that these are the types of things that are created in the hopes that it will make figuring out if you can use it and what you have to do to use it a little easier, but these flow charts are not the ultimate authority.
Go ahead and have a form letter ready to edit and send to ask a copyright holder for permission to use his or her published work. The University of Michigan has a page that discusses Obtaining Permission as well as a link to a permission letter template. There are also plenty of other copyright permission letter templates available online.