UNDERSTANDING COPYRIGHT:

SHARING AND USING VIDEOS IN

THE CLASSROOM
James Chase-Wegner
Kennesaw State University
ITEC 7445 Multimedia and Web Design

What is copyright? Why is it necessary?

What is copyright?
Protection under the law that provides the creators of works the ability to
gain control and in-turn profit over personally created or owned content.
The moment a song, video, or text is recorded, on a cell phone or even on a
napkin, the creator has rights over this new content.
This right is called copyright and gives the owner/creator exclusive power
over if, how, when, and/or for what price it can be copied and/or
manipulated.
Why is it necessary?
Provides maximum incentive to produce newly created written or recorded
original works and legal protection needed to make a profit.

Understanding Various Copyright Permissions

For more information about these types of Copyright Permissions please go to

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/blogbasics/6/print.

Having doubts if you should use content?

If you do not own the content, can not be certain it is considered public domain, or have
not personally purchased a license to use the material it is best to
Seek advice from a well recognized source such as the Copyright Clearance Center.
Determine the purpose you wish to use the material for. The use of the material may
fall under Fair Use policy giving you some options or flexibility.
Try to contact the owner of the copyright to pay for or be granted the right to use the
material. Consider using services geared towards providing pay-pay-use options to
interested users. One of this type of service is Copyright.com.
Consider creating your own content or finding something that can be used in the
public domain. One option for locating usable material that is considered public
domain is looking for material in the Creative Commons. Using free screencasting
services like Jing or Screencast-O-Matic will allow you to create your own video
content.

Copyright Act: Fair Use Policy

Fair Use is a concept found in Section 107 of the United States of Americas
Copyright Act and provides a legal defense for the use of another's work
without their direct permission (Copyright Clearance Center, 2008).

If sued for breaking copyright laws one would have to prove in civil court that
their exact use of the material does indeed align with this concept.
Elements of acceptable Fair Use are: commentary, parody, news reporting,
research, and education (Copyright Clearance Center, 2008).
Important to know, Not all educational uses of copyright-protected materials
are considered fair use (Copyright Clearance Center, 2008).

Fair Use in a Nutshell

In addition to the aforementioned list of events that fall under Fair Use
guidelines the user of another's content

May only use a portion of the original work. The smaller amount used the
better in every situation. Avoid using the central theme or most important
part of the content if possible.
Be sure to give credit to the original creator. This should be done through
correct citations or direct links back to the original website post, article, or
blog.
Must not be seeking to use the copyrighted work to gain personally profit.

Sharing and Using Copyrighted Videos

The Goodwill Community Foundation (2016) suggests these basic rules to
follow in regards to sharing and using copyrighted videos:
Always embed videos as it gives a direct link back to the original post
and in turn gives direct credit to the original poster
If the video is removed from the original source due to copyright
infringement it will also be removed from your site
If it is obvious that a video is in violation of copyright law than do not
embed the video. Examples of videos in direction violation would be
complete television shows and or movies
The Stanford University Library (2016) suggests including no more than 10%
or 3 minutes of motion-based works and no more than 10% or 30 seconds
of a song or video

Creating your own content via screencasting or making your own video is a
good alternative as you will directly own the content.

Scenario 1 - Question
Should a teacher share a movie with their class
that has been posted directly to YouTube or Vimeo in
its entirety when they know its posting was in clear
violation of copyright law?

Scenario 1 - Answer
No. If you have any idea that a video shared
through YouTube or Vimeo has broken copyright
law, you should not share the posted video.

Scenario 2 - Question
A teacher downloads a video directly from a
website like YouTube or Vimeo to avoid dealing with
connectivity issues. The teacher then uses this video
in class. Has there been a breach of copyright law.

Scenario 2 - Answer
We have all been in this situation as educators when
the building Wi-Fi or Ethernet network has been
inconsistent to say the least. Many would assume that
since this video is being shared for educational purposes it
would fall within fair use guidelines. However, since there
is no direct link back to the original website/creator this
sharing has created a violation of copyright law. One would
have to purchase the content to share it free of the original
internet source link.

Scenario 3 - Question
A teacher would like to use a portion of a video in
a screencast or Nearpod presentation. What must this
teacher do to ensure they stay within the Fair Use
guidelines?

Scenario 3 - Answer
The screencast or Nearpod created should contain
direct citations, links, or embeds within the presentations in
order to give credit to the original author/s. The teacher
should be thoughtful of the amount of the original work used
to create the presentation. The work in nature must serve a
culminating goal that is both educational and not for profit.

Resources
Academic Technology Center. (2003). Cornell Copyright Decision Tree. Retrieved from
http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/docs/Copyright_Decision_Tree.pdf
Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (2008). Copyright basics: Fair use. Retrieved from
http://www.copyright.com/Services/copyrightoncampus/basics/fairuse.html
Electronic Frontier Foundation. (n.d.) Fair use frequently asked questions. Retrieved
from https://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/fair-use-faq

Goodwill Community Foundation. (2016). Blog basics: Copyright and fair use. Retrieved
from http://www.gcflearnfree.org/blogbasics/6/print
Stanford University Library. (2016) Copyright reminder: Classroom use of media.
Retrieved from https://library.stanford.edu/using/copyright-reminder/commonsituations/classroom-use-media