RP7 Fair Use - Copyright - Creative Commons

Fair Use, at Copyright.gov

The United States government defines Fair Use as "a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in circumstances," such as "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research," etc.  Section 7 of the Copyright Act considers four main factors when evaluating the question of fair use:

1. Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes. Educational and nonprofit/noncommercial, and "transformative" uses are more likely to be viewed as fair use, but the courts will weigh that use against the other factors.
2. Nature of the copyrighted work: this factor will analyze the "degree to which the work that was used relates to copyright's purpose of encouraging creative expression." A factual work (such as a news item) is more likely to support a claim of fair use than a creative one (such as a movie).
3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole: this states that both quality and quantity of the copyrighted work will be looked at, and the larger the use is, the less likely it is to be considered fair use.
4. Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work: Within this factor, "courts review whether, and to what extent, the unlicensed use harms the existing or future market for the copyright owner’s original work." 

It is also noted that the course evaluate claims on a case-by-case basis, and that "there is no formula to ensure that a predetermined percentage or amount of a work—or specific number of words, lines, pages, copies—may be used without permission."

My Thoughts: I think the government did a good job of providing a very general overview of what Section 7 of the 1976 Copyright Act entails with regard to Fair Use. The basics of the doctrine are fairly easy to understand, however it's made quite clear on the website that all copyright claims are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and that other factors may also be considered when evaluating those claims. They also state that the "outcome of any given claim depends on a fact-specific inquiry." So their decision will not just be a simple matter of analyzing whether or not someone's use has violated one or more of the four factors; they will evaluate all the facts and circumstances of each case in order to make their determination on fair use.

The Educators Guide to Copyright & Fair Use, from Education World

Part 1: Copyrights and Copy Wrongs. This part explains first that "copyright law states that the owner of any tangible creative work has the sole right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, transmit, or transform that work." So in many cases, teachers unwittingly are in violation of copyright law when using various tangible materials in lessons. It is also explained that copyrighted work must be tangible and creative, and that as soon as a creative work is fixed in tangible form, it is protected by copyright. Copyright lasts for 70 years after a creator's death, and only works published before 1923 are in the public domain. So a general rule of thumb is recommended: "when in doubt, assume a work is copyrighted and ask permission to use it." 

Part 2: Is Fair Use a License to Steal? Part two begins by stating that many educators mistakenly believe that as long as they're using copyrighted materials for educational purposes, then they're not violating any copyrights or the fair use doctrine. It states that the four factors of the fair use doctrine must be considered whenever materials are used for educational purposes. This section also provides several questions with regard to the four factors to help educators determine fair use. These questions can be suggested as some basic requirements that the copyrighted work in question should meet in order to qualify as (most likely) fair use. The work should be:

• Significantly altered,
• For educational, nonprofit use,
• Published,
• Out of Print,
• Factual,
• Smaller percentage of the work,
• Least significant part of the work,
• Designed to appeal to a different audience than the original work.

This section also explains that, "over the years, librarians, educators, and publishers have developed voluntary guidelines to address fair use." These guidelines, generally speaking, make certain things OK to copy under most circumstances, but they exclude several things too of which educators should be aware. The section also highlights important info about fair use with music, TV and videos, guidelines that were developed in 1976 and 1981, including things that are allowed and things prohibited. It is recommended to use public domain resources whenever possible, and to ask permission and teach students to ask permission when in doubt about any resource.

Part 3: Copyright Law and New Technologies. This section starts off with the most important caveat for teachers and students to know: the internet is NOT in the public domain! It further states that "copyrighted work on the Web is governed by an international treaty, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works." However the rules about works in the public domain can vary from country to country. We are urged as educators, when debating if something is in the public domain, "relate it as closely as possible to a print resource," and to always get permission to use online resources directly from the owner of the copyright. And we are cautioned that "print rights and electronic rights are not the same thing." Another important caveat: freeware is NOT in the public domain and is also protected by copyright.

Part 4: Applying Fair Use to New Technologies. This section discusses how the original fair use guidelines from 1976 don't address the new technologies of today. So in 1994, the CONFU was established to "discuss fair use issues that new technologies raise and to develop guidelines for fair use by librarians and educators."  However, consensus could not be reached on the guidelines. So in 1996, the CCUMC drafted a set of fair use guidelines for educators and students to use "while creating multimedia projects that include copyrighted works." These became the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia. And when using copyrighted works while meeting these fair use guidelines, the projects must include credit to the source, along with a copyright notice and its owner's information; and state on the opening screen and any print materials that the copyrighted materials are included under fair use guidelines and the fair use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law. Restrictions are also listed for how the multimedia projects must be kept and stored. Rights for software use is most usually not governed by the fair use guidelines; rather, the rights are governed by the software creators, since most software is licensed. So fair use guidelines only apply to software that is purchased, not licensed.

Part 5: District Liability and Teaching Responsibility. This section stresses how for years educators "got away with illegal practices--not even having an inkling they were illegal," with regard to copyright and fair use. But now with the web we all need to educate ourselves and be more careful. It notes that "districts are liable for any copyright violations committed by their staff," and stresses that districts need to be very careful about the "copyright status" of any content placed on their school website. Several steps are recommended for school districts to take to help limit their potential liability, because the potential for copyright infringement by students or staff can be minimized if adequate policies are in place and enforced. Three teacher responsibilities for teaching students about copyright are also included in this section.

My Thoughts: This seems to be a very thorough and easy to understand series that explains Fair Use and Copyright Laws as they apply to educators and students. I knew a lot of the information in this five-part article, but there were many things that I didn't know, so I learned a lot. I think it provides a strong explanation of these topics for teachers and would be a really great reference for anyone in the education field. I have bookmarked it myself for future reference. I think there are a lot of things here that most teachers don't even realize, so this would make for a very effective and perhaps enlightening professional development seminar for teachers. Because, let's face it: if we don't know this stuff, we can't really expect our students to know it either.

Over the years, librarians, educators, and publishers have developed voluntary guidelines to address fair use - See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280b.shtml#sthash.tot2ttbh.dpuf

Over the years, librarians, educators, and publishers have developed voluntary guidelines to address fair use - See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280b.shtml#sthash.tot2ttbh.dpuf

Over the years, librarians, educators, and publishers have developed voluntary guidelines to address fair use - See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280b.shtml#sthash.tot2ttbh.dpuf

Over the years, librarians, educators, and publishers have developed voluntary guidelines to address fair use - See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280b.shtml#sthash.tot2ttbh.dpuf

About Creative Commons, from CreativeCommons.org

According to this site, "Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools." They provide free and simple copyright licenses for people to share their own creative work according to their own terms. With CC, you can allow people to use, share, build on, and remix your work on your terms, without them having to ask for your permission first. CC provides six types of licenses, and also a public domain mark. Their mission is to "develop, support, and steward legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation." CC aims to provide "a pool of content that can be copied, distributed, edited, remixed, and built upon, all within the boundaries of copyright law."

My Thoughts: I'd never been on the actual Creative Commons website before. I've read about it and seen references to it on a lot of websites, but I never went to the website and just read about what it is, how it works, and its mission and goals. It was really well explained on their website's About page, and the video was short but effective as well in explaining the basics of Creative Commons and its various licenses. As an artist, it was quite helpful to read the information on their website and learn more about how CC can apply to me and my creative works if I choose to use it.  

Creative Commons as it Relates to Education, from Creative Commons.org

This page begins with an explanation of OER: Open Educational Resources. "OER are teaching, learning, and resource materials in any medium that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others." Educational resources that are openly licensed on CC are free. Thanks to the CC, their open licenses make it easy for students to create their projects and reports for school, and makes resources much more readily available and easy to find for teachers as well. The goal of this is to help minimize barriers created by copyright laws, and thus "maximize the benefits of OER." They have a link to a page to make it easier for teachers and students to find the OER materials. They also provide a link to a page that lists case studies of schools and organizations that are using CC/OER for education. Also noted in their slide deck presentation is an explanation of their Version 4.0 for education, which highlights their best practices for CC attribution: TASL (Title, Author, Source [link to work], and License [Name + Link]). They have several ongoing projects with the goal of helping to improve access to education around the world.

My Thoughts: I think it's a pretty awesome thing for the Creative Commons to have as one of its goals to help coordinate and share digital educational resources at no cost to schools, teachers, and students around the world. They want to continuously improve access to education, and also help to educate everyone about open licensing and its impact and benefit--not only to education, but also to creative endeavors, research, and more.  

Reflection 

I think I've learned a lot from this week's readings and videos.  From the Copyright.gov site I've learned that what substantiates "fair use" is subject to four specific factors, but that a copyright claim is determined on a case-by-case basis and that other fact-based factors and circumstances are also considered. It's not really cut and dried, nor is it black or white; but the four factors should be considered when one is concerned about a copyright issue. From the Education World article, I learned the most basic caveat: the internet is NOT public domain. And also, "when in doubt, ask permission to use it." Of course I already knew that, but it was good to read about some basic guidelines teachers can follow to help prevent themselves and their students from violating copyright laws and the fair use doctrine. And I think it is very important that as teachers we all know what our responsibilities are as far as teaching our students about copyright. This knowledge can protect them, protect us, and protect our school district as well. Finally, after reading about the Creative Commons, I have a much better understanding of its purpose and its mission--both in regard to people and anyone who creates something in general, and for educators and students as well. It's not just a licensing tool, it's also a free and open educational resource for teachers and students around the world too.