Copyright

Why is knowledge about copyright so important? Infringement on someone else’s copyright can have major legal repercussions, with enormous financial fines. So by knowing about copyright, you can help protect yourself. What is copyright? It is a way to protect authors or creators original works. Almost anything can be copyrighted such as literary, musical, dramatic, architectural, choreographic, or motion picture works. (“Copyright and Fair Use in the Classroom, on the Internet, and the World Wide Web”) There are three main items that these things have in common to remember what can be copyrighted they are tangible, original, and creative. Copyright affects are everyday lives more than you may realize such as movies, books, video games, computer software, music (radio, mp3, sheet music, etc.), choreography and architectural designs. This is just a beginning to what is covered everyday by the copyright laws. Once a work is copyrighted, for works published after 1977, it will last the creators whole life plus seventy years.

Even though the list I just mentioned is extensive, there are items that are not covered by the copyright and fair use laws. For example, slogans, names, words, or other short phrases cannot be copyright, but can be covered by trademark laws. A trademark is “A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name.” (United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2007) Also any forms of government work, works created by a federal government employee as part of their official responsibility, ideas, and facts that are common knowledge are not copyrighted. Any works that were originally created in the United States before 1923 are considered public domain and are not covered by the copyright law. However, any work created in the United States between 1923-1977 are covered by the copyright laws for ninety five years from the date of publication.

If a work is copyrighted the owner has the right to make copies of their work as they see fit. The owner can also sell and distribute the copies in any form. Owners of copyrighted material can create new work based upon the previous copyrighted work. Also performances can be dictated by the owner of the work. So if you are thinking about doing any of this with a copyrighted work, please get permission from the owner first, you could be infringing on their rights.

In addition to copyright, there is fair use. Fair use is a section of the copyright law that says how a copyrighted work may be used and not be infringing on the owner’s copyright rights. Fair use says that a work may be used fairly for “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.” (Copyright Office, 2006)

Here are four questions to ask yourself if you are following fair use: What is the character of the use? What is the nature of the work to be used? How much of the work will you use? What effect would this use have on the market for the original or fore permissions if the use were widespread? Now imagine the legal balance scale, if it leans to the left you are within fair use and if it leans to the right consider getting permission.

Using the image of the balance scale let’s take a closer look at question number one: what is the character of the use? If you will use the work for education, non-profit organizations, or personal use then the balance scale will lean heavily to the left. If the work is being used for commentaries, criticism, parodies, or news reporting consider the balance scale is perfectly balanced. If the work will be used for commercial use then consider the scale leaning to the right.

Question number two: What is the nature of the work to be used? If the work will be used for fact or published then the scale will lean to the left. If the work will be used for, cooperate, imaginative or unpublished then the scale will lean back to the right.

Question number three: How much of the work will you use? If it is a small amount, such as ten percent, then the scales lean to the left. If you are going to use more than ten percent then the balance scales lean to the right.

Question number four: What effect would this use have on the market for the original or fore permissions if the use were widespread? If all of your answers make the scales go to the left then you are using fair use! If even one question goes to the right, then you may want to reconsider how you are using the copyrighted work or get permission from the owner of the work.

If you have decided you need to get permission, there is a very simple process you can go though to obtain permission. “Contact the publisher of the material you wish to use. Ask for the address or phone number of the publisher's ‘Permissions Department.’ Some publishers will send you a required permission form to fill out. Other publishing houses may ask for your request in a letter.” (How to get Permission to use Copyrighted Material). Beware that sometimes this simple process can become a lengthy process, so make sure you start this process long before a due date is near. While filling out the form or writing the letter make sure to include everything you will use including page numbers, author, book title, and etcetera. Finally, give the copyrighted work credit in your work whether or not you needed their permission to use it.

Another way creators have to protect their work is by using the creative commons license. There are six types of creative commons Attribution (by), Attribution Share Alike (by-sa), Attribution No Derivatives (by-nd), Attribution Non-commercial (by-nc), Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa), and Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). The Attribution, or by license, allows others to tweak, distribute, remix, and build upon the original work even on the commercial level as long as they give credit to the original work. The Attribution Share Alike, or by-sa license, allows others to tweak, distribute, remix, and build upon the original work even on the commercial level as long as they give credit to the original work, but the new work must be licensed in the identical way as the original work. The Attribution No Derivatives, or by-nd license, with this license the original work can be distributed, copied, and transmitted, but may not be changed in any way. The Attribution Non-commercial, or by-nc license, is very similar to the by license, expect work can only be tweaked, distributed, remixed and built upon on at the non-commercial level. Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike, or by-nc-sa license, this license is just like the by-nc-nd license except everything must be done at the non-commercial level. The Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives, or by-nc-nd license or free advertising, work can be downloaded, shared, or redistributed even at the commercial level, this is also the most restrictive of the six licenses. At http://creativecommons.org/about/license/, they provide buttons, for any of the creative commons licenses listed above, that you can place on your web site to protect your own work.

Overall, you should not be afraid to use copyrighted work as long as you follow the guidelines. Copyright laws are there to protect those who have created literary, musical, dramatic, architectural, choreographic, or motion picture works for the rest of us to enjoy and to gain an education. Just remember that copyrighted work should be respected as if it was your own work out there, so do to others as you would have done to yourself.

References

Copyright and fair use in the classroom, on the internet, and the world wide web. University of Maryland. Retrieved September 24, 2009, from http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.shtml#getpermit.

Copyright Office. (2006). Copyright and fair use. Copyright Office: Author. Retrieved September 24, 2009, from http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.

How to get permission to use copyrighted material. Messages posted to How To Forum, archived at http://www.ehow.com/how_18035_permission-copyrighted-material.html.

United States Patent and Trademark Office. (2007). Trademark faq. Washington DC. Retrieved September 24, 2009, from http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmfaq.htm.