Dos and Dont for

Classroom Teachers
A quick guide to Copyright and Fair Use for
classroom instruction.

Johnny Phillips, III

ITEC 7445
Mr. Joe Crawford
Kennesaw State Universit

What is Copyright/Fair
Fair Use allows
Use?
Copyright

is the
legal protection
of an original
work that has a
tangible medium
against
reproduction,
distribution, or
public display
without the
creators consent.

individuals to
use or reproduce
segments of
material without
permission from
the creator for
specific uses i.e.:
criticism, parody,
research,
education, and
news.

No. A material does not have to be registered

with any office to be considered copyrighted.
A material is considered copyrighted as soon as
it is made open to the public domain.

DO MATERIALS HAVE
TO REGISTERED TO
BE COPYRIGHTED?

What does this mean for

teachers?
What

can
teachers use
under copyright
law?
What can
teachers not
use?
What will happen
if I accidentally
break copyright
law?

What can teachersLuckily,

use?

education is one
of the provisions
covered under
Fair Use.
However, this
doesnt mean
that teachers
have complete
immunity to
copyright laws.

What teachers can do.

Printed Material
Specifics
A poem of 250
words or less.
Excerpt of larger
work (10% or
1,000 words).
Copy 2 pages
from illustrated
work thats less
than 2,500
words.

What you can do.

Copy and
distribute one
copy per
student.
Incorporate into
multimedia for
classroom use.
Students may
incorporate into
multimedia.

What you can do.

What teachers cando.
Single images
Illustrations or Photographs
may be used but
not more than
Specifics
five works from
Photographs
one
Illustrations
artist/photograp
Collections of
her.
Photographs/Illus From a
trations
collection, not
more than 15 or
10% may be
used
simultaneously.

What teachers can do.

Videos for viewing.
Specifics
Videos
(rented/purchase
d)
DVDs
Laserdiscs

What you can do.

May be viewed in
classroom*.
Copies may be
make to replace lost
or damaged copies.
*Viewing must be for
educational purposes
not entertainment or
reward.

What teachers can do.

Videos for using in multimedia.
Specifics
Videotapes
DVDs
Laserdiscs
QuickTime
Movies
Clips from
Internet

What you can do.

Students can use
up to 10% or
three minutes of
media in an
academic
project.

What teachers
Music
Specifics
Records
Cassettes
CDs
Web clips

What you can do.

canTeachers
do.
and
students may
use up to 10% of
copyrighted
material in
multimedia or
video
(reproduced or
performed).
Must have
educational
purpose.

What if?
Suppose a teacher legally downloads a
music video to show the students the
special effects used in the production.
The teacher shows the video to the class.
Is this in violation of copyright laws?
Answer
No. Because the music video was legally
obtained and the viewing was for
educational purposes, this scenario is not
a violation of copyright laws.

What if?
Suppose a teacher makes copies of
Shakespeare's Hamlet for each of her
students because the school cannot
afford to purchase copies. Is this in
violation of copyright laws?
Answer
Yes. This is a violation of copyright laws
because Hamlet has approximately
30,000 words. Teachers are limited to
copying 10% or 1,000 words of a text.

What if?
Suppose a teacher makes copies
out of a worksheet booklet that
she bought at the local school
store for her students. Is this a
violation of copyright laws?
Answer.
Yes. Because a worksheet booklet
is considered a consumable, it
cannot be reproduced. The teacher
is in violation of copyright laws.

Im guilty
Many

teachers,
at some point,
have violated
copyright laws,
even though Fair
Use offers
lenient rules.
Can I be sued by
the creator?

Answer
The short answer is
yes. If you are in
violation of
copyright laws, the
producer/creator has
the right to sue you.
Luckily, it is a rare
instance that suits
are brought against
teachers for
copyright violations.

THANK
YOU FOR
I hope that this presentation has answered your questions on Copyright Laws
WATCHING
and Fair Use.
For more information on Copyright Laws and Fair Use, see
http://fairuse.stanford.edu.
.
Resources
Drawing Explains Copyright (Drawing). Retrieved from http://www.erikjheels.com/2007-07-18drawingthat-explains-copyright-law.html
High School Students (Photograph). Retrieved from http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/mar/06/
student_affairs/
http://blogs.sungard.com/ps_k12/2013/06/06/employee-evaluations-dos-and-donts-2/
https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/files/OpbRiU64M1YXad/
Copyright&FairUsebyTechnologyandLearning.pdf
Judges Gavel (Photograph). Retrieved from https://www.mint.com/blog/housing/getting-approvedhowlenders-judge-you-0413/?display=wide
Music and Teach (Photograph). Retrieved from
http://pomitacorporation.wordpress.com/2012/11/page/
3/
Promethean Board (Photograph). Retrieved from http://education.fcps.org/trt/content/prekpromethean-training
Van Gogh, V. (1889). Starry Night (Painting). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
The_Starry_Night