Post: Copyright & Fair Use
The most important thing about copyright law that applies to education is staying within the guidelines of fair use. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor stated that, “The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors but to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.”
As instructors we need to follow the guidelines in fair use such as giving proper citations and acquiring materials legitimately. The TEACH Act (Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization) allows copyrighted materials to be used, if certain requirements are met. Only the students officially enrolled in the course may have access to the materials and they are only available to the students during the course. The Blackboard system allows for this type of control over displaying copyrighted materials.
What I learned about copyright is that the law has changed over the years. Now copyright is automatic and begins when the work is created. A work does not need to be registered nor display the copyright symbol in order to be protected. Also, even innocent infringements can be expensive. The minimum damages for even an innocent infringement is $200 per violation.
My questions concern the copyright law that states it is considered infringement if a substantial amount of the copyright owners work is used.
As instructors we need to follow the guidelines in fair use such as giving proper citations and acquiring materials legitimately. The TEACH Act (Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization) allows copyrighted materials to be used, if certain requirements are met. Only the students officially enrolled in the course may have access to the materials and they are only available to the students during the course. The Blackboard system allows for this type of control over displaying copyrighted materials.
What I learned about copyright is that the law has changed over the years. Now copyright is automatic and begins when the work is created. A work does not need to be registered nor display the copyright symbol in order to be protected. Also, even innocent infringements can be expensive. The minimum damages for even an innocent infringement is $200 per violation.
My questions concern the copyright law that states it is considered infringement if a substantial amount of the copyright owners work is used.
- How much transformation is needed to claim a creative work as an original?
- How do mash-ups on YouTube fit in with copyright laws?
- Are parodies considered original works and can they be copyrighted?