About Copyright Laws for Teachers
Federal law provides authors protection of copyrighted material. To be copyrighted, a work must be original, in fixed or tangible form and be a work of authorship. Making unauthorized copies of copyrighted material is generally considered infringement, with very limited exceptions, some of which pertain to teachers who make copies of portions of copyrighted materials or who share copyrighted material with their classroom students for educational purposes.
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Fair Use
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Fair use exemptions permit copyrighted material to be used during the course of education if the purpose of using the material is to critique it, comment on it, report news or conduct research. However, there are limits to fair use even in the classroom.
Determining Fair Use
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In determining fair use of copyrighted material, an educator should first ensure that the material is used to educate students. Educators should also make sure that they limit the amount of material they copy. For example, copying an entire chapter from a textbook is not permissible, whereas copying a few paragraphs is permissible. Educators should also make sure that making copies of the material will in no way take away from its sales and/or marketability.
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When Copyrighted Material May Be Used
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Educators may freely use copyrightable material that has fallen into public domain. They may also use material with express permission of the author. Parodies of copyrighted material are exempt from copyright protection as well.
Permissible Use of Copyrighted Material
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With respect to book chapters, news and magazine articles, prose, short stories, and poetry, an educator may make a single copy for themselves for purposes of instruction and multiple copies, one per student, as long as the copyrighted material is brief, spontaneously copied, reflects a copyright notice, and meets the cumulative effect test. This is to say, the material must be for only one school course; may not exceed more than one poem, article, story, essay, or two parts from a longer work by one author. Copying of the material may not affect the marketability or sale of the author's work.
Illegal Copying
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Unless an educator has express permission from an author, they may not make multiple copies of copyrighted material repeatedly or to create an anthology. Nor can an educator make copies of material so that students will not have to purchase a book for the class.
Film and Videotape, Music and Broadcasts
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When teaching, educators may show up to 3 minutes or 10 percent of a film or videotape, whichever is less. An educator may use 10 percent of a musical composition when teaching, regardless if the form is print, sound or in multimedia format. With respect to broadcast programs, an individual educator may use a copy of off-air simultaneous broadcast, such as a radio talk show, as long as it is within the first 45 days of the recording date of the broadcast.
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