Transcript Slide 1

Copyright, Distance
Learning, and Digital Media
Know the law, empower your students
… and breath easier
Barbara M. Waxer
Delgado Community College
January 9, 2007
Overview
Myths we love
 Copyright 101
 Online and distance education
 Finding work you and your students can use

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Myths
You can use anything you can download
from the Internet
 You can use any amount of any work as long
as it’s for class
 If a work does not contain the copyright
symbol ©, it is not protected by copyright
 As long as you’re not making a profit, you
can use copyrighted materials in class

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Myths
If you change an original enough, then you
can consider it a new work you created
 You can use anything as long as you give
credit
 If you buy a book or movie, you can digitize
it and use it however you want
 No one will find out or come after little old
you

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TRUE or FALSE

The sole purpose of copyright protection is to
protect an author’s exclusive rights to their
work
 [The goal is to] promote the Progress of Science
and useful Arts. To this end, copyright assures
authors the right to their original expression, but
encourages others to build freely upon the ideas
and information conveyed by a work. This result is
neither unfair nor unfortunate.”
―Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
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Copyright Fundamentals
Authority to establish Copyright Law comes
from the US Constitution
 Is a balance between the interests of
owners/authors with interests of the public
 Gives authors exclusive rights to control
over how their work can be used

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Copyrightability Factors

Expression: a person’s unique output
 Photography, writing, music, dance

Originality: some modicum of creativity
 Not necessarily novel or unique

Fixation: established in a tangible medium
 The work exists and can be experienced
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Copyrightability
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Protected Works
Literary works
 Musical works, including any accompanying
words
 Dramatic works, including any accompanying
music
 Pantomimes and choreographic works
 Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
 Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
 Sound recordings
 Architectural works

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Works Not Protected
Ideas, processes, systems
 Facts themselves v. selection and
arrangement
 Public domain
 Federal government publications
 Titles, names, short phrases, slogans

 May be eligible for trademark protection
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Scenes à Faire &
Merger Doctrine
Cowboy = Old West
Haunted House = scary story
Variations on a Zoom Tool
from different applications
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You write a story about
your vacation–at what point
is it protected by copyright?
When you first think of it
B) When you write it down
C) When you register it with the Copyright
Office
D) When you present it in class
A)
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Start and Duration

Copyright attaches as soon as work is
created - Automatic
 Scribbled, drawn, keystroked, recorded
Generally, copyright lasts the life of the
author plus 70 years
 Registration and notice not required but
provide warning to world and special legal
protections

 © Copyright symbol no longer required on a
work
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Term of Copyright
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TRUE or FALSE

The following statement is an official statement
made by a member of Congress:
“Copyright should last forever minus one day”
— Mary Bono, widow of Sonny, who
sponsored the CTEA
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Copyright Ownership
Vests initially in author or authors of work
 Work made for hire

 Work prepared by an employee within scope of
employment
 Work specifically ordered or commissioned and
contract says so
 Employer or person for whom work prepared is
considered author
 Academic Exception cloudy, especially with online
classes
 Technological solutions (DMCA and DRM)
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Rights of Copyright Owners
section 106
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Limitations to Exclusive Rights
Fair Use (section 107)
 Libraries and Archives (section 108)
 First Sale Doctrine (section 109)

 Copyright does not transfer to the buyer when
you buy a book, CD, or DVD—the sale transfers
only the physical copy to you

Educational exception for certain
activities (section 110)
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Fair Use

Purposes include:
 Criticism
 Comment
 News reporting
 Teaching (including multiple copies for
classroom use)
 Scholarship
 Research
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Fair Use Factors

Factors include but are not limited to:
 Purpose and character of use (commercial v.
nonprofit educational purposes)
 Nature of the copyrighted work (fact v. fiction)
 Amount and substantiality of the portion used
in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
 Effect of the use on the potential market for or
value of the copyrighted work
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Fair Use

Decided in courts on case-by-case basis
 No set formula

Educational safe harbor guidelines CONTU
 Minimum not maximum standards of
educational fair use
 Brevity, spontaneity, cumulative effect

Fair Use argument legally trumps any
guidelines
 But will educational institution agree to defend
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How much can I copy?
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Infringement

Violating one of the exclusive rights granted
to a copyright owner
 Making unauthorized use of a work
Damages can be up to $150,000 for each
instance of willful infringement
 Intent of the infringer is not a defense
 Ignorance of the law is not a defense
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Proving Infringement
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Infringement Scenarios
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Infringement
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Dost Thou Infringe?
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Dost Thou Infringe?
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http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/law/libra
ry/cases/case_campbellacuff.html
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A Mouse or THE Mouse?
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Dost Thou Infringe?
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If a work is in the public
domain:
You can create a derivative work from it
only if no one else does so first
B. You can use it however you want
C. You can only use it once
D. It must be very old
A.
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Public Domain

Works no longer protected by copyright
 Copyright expired or lost over time or by
circumstance
 Work donated to public domain
Can use and modify work in the public
domain however you wish
 Generally, works created before 1924 are in
the public domain
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Can I Use It? Decision Chart
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Some consider the laws guiding
online education to:
Limit copyright protection
B. Expand copyright protection
C. Clarify copyright protection
D. Confound the entire concept
A.
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TEACH Act
Deals exclusively with virtual classroom
 Purpose is allow some copying

 Still based on live classroom paradigm
Focus is on centralized policy
 Duties of institutional policymakers

 Accredited nonprofit institution
 Establish copyright policy and inform staff,
faculty, and students
 Inform students that materials are protected
 Only for enrolled students
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Duties of IT Staff
Provide limited access
 Ensure technological controls on storage
and dissemination
 Cannot interfere with controls in digitally
protected work
 Ensure limited copy retention
 Ensure limited long-term retention
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Duties of Instructors
Engage in decision making based on
tradition of academic freedom
 Types of work expanded for transmittal

 All of a non-dramatic literary or musical work
 Reasonable and limited portions
 Amounts comparable to typical face-to-face
displays
Work an integral part of the class session
 Reasonable portions of work used
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Duties of Instructors

Explicitly excluded
 Commercial works sold or licensed for
purposes of digital distance education
 Works suspected to be unlawfully acquired
 E-coursepacks
E-reserves allowed
 Limit works to what would be used or
displayed in a live classroom
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Checklist for Compliance
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https://www.cu.edu/ip/copyright/downloads/TeachActChecklist.pdf
http:// www.copyright.iupui.edu/teachlist.htm
http:// fp.uni.edu/teachact/checklist.htm
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/scc/legislative/teachkit/expanded_checklist.pdf
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Finding Material
Get permission from copyright holder
 Conform to terms of use
 Use sites that include public domain works
 Use site that include flexible copyright
licenses

 Creative Commons
 Use compilations
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Seeing the phrase “for
educational use only” on
two Web sites tells you:
You can use material from both sites if
you are an instructor
B) You can use material from both sites if
you are a student
C) You should find out what each Web site
means by educational use
D) You can use material from both sites in
any instructional setting
A)
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Terms of Use
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www.course.com/downloads/illustrated/copyright/onlineresources.cfm
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Resources
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Audio
 A1FreeSounds
 The Free Sound Project
Music
 Looperman
 Internet Archive
Video
 Blip TV
 Library of Congress
Photos
 Flickr – includes Creative Commons search capability
 MorgueFile
 Stock xchng
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