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Finding and Using Digital Images | Using Digital Images | Copyright

COPYRIGHT
"'Copyright' literally means the exclusive right to make copies of a work." [Talab, p.8]
RIGHTS OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER
The author or creator of a work is the copyright owner and has the following rights: [Talab, p. 14]
  1. Reproduction
  2. Preparation of derivative works
  3. Public distribution
  4. Public performing rights
  5. Public display [Talab, p. 88]
UNCOPYRIGHTED WORKS
Some materials are not eligible for copyright protection. They include:
  1. Works in the public domain: materials in which copyright has expired and those materials that never requested protection.
  2. Ideas, methods, systems, and principles
  3. Devices and Blank Forms. (formulas, equations) [Talab, p. 13]
INFRINGEMENT
Copyright infringement is the violation of any of the above 5 rights. Ask yourself these questions before copying a work. If you answer yes to either you should not copy the work.
  1. Is this an unethical use?
  2. Could this harm the author's market? [Talab, p. 19]

"A copyrighted work is not required to have a copyright notice on it." [Talab, p. 89]
MULTIMEDIA AND FAIR USE GUIDELINES
"Instructors may choose to follow fair use guidelines, which are more lenient than the Multimedia Guidelines, for classroom uses which will stay in the classroom and then be erased. For uses which will leave the classroom-as portfolios or for conferences-it is best to use the Multimedia Guidelines." [Talban, p. 75]

Students and Teachers Can Use [quoted directly, Talab, p. 74]

  1. 10% or three minutes of multimedia
  2. 10% or 1,000 words of text material. See Talban for specifics on the use of poetry.
  3. 5 images by an artist or photographer or 10% or 15 images from a collective work.
  4. 10% or 2,500 fields or cell entries from a copyrighted database or data table.
  5. 10% or 30 seconds of music and lyrics from one work or from several extracts from one work.

Teachers and Students Must [quoted directly, Talab, p. 75]

  1. Credit sources and copyright ownership information either on each screen or on a credits screen
  2. Use multimedia projects for educational purposes (not commercial ones)
  3. Destroy multimedia projects after two years after the first use with a class, unless used . . . by students for personal portfolios, job interviews, or graduate school interviews
REFERENCES

Talab, R.S. (1999). Commonsense copyright: A guide for educators and librarians. McFarland: Jefferson, North Carolina.

Wherry, T.L. (2002). The librarian's guide to intellectual property in the digital age: copyrights, patents and trademarks. American Library Association: Chicago.

UW Copyright Connection. (2000) Fair Use Guidelines. http://depts.washington.edu/uwcopy/information/guidelines/index.shtml
FOR MORE INFORMATION

Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/ccmcguid.htm
These guidelines were developed in 1997 by participants of the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU).

Copyright Issues: Multimedia and Internet Resources
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/mmfruse.htm
A resource with much information and links to more information on copyright issues particular to multimedia and internet uses.

Copyright and Fair Use
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/
A page full of links to information on copyright and fair use, created by the Stanford University Libraries.

U.S. Copyright Office
http://www.copyright.gov/
A site addressing all aspects of copyright law, created by the U.S. government.

Copyright Basics
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html
A section of the U.S. Copyright Office website. (above)

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Last modified: Friday January 25, 2008 (barrettl, jwadland, hornbya)
URL: http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/images/copyright.html