Below you will find some basic information on the copyright law.   Be sure to adhere to the Multimedia Guidelines when creating projects and presentations for your classes.   A student’s checklist for ePlagiarism prevention and additional copyright links are included at the end of the page.

Questions & Answers About Existing Copyright Law

by Janis H. Bruwelheide, Ed.D.

ERIC Digest 95-03: Copyright Issues for the Electronic Age, April 1995

Q: What is copyright?

A: Copyright is a statutory privilege extended to creators of works fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

Q: What are the rights of a copyright owner?

A: Copyright involves five separate rights (section 106):

1. The right to reproduce or copy the work;
2. The right to prepare derivative works;
3. The right to distribute copies of the work to the public;
4. In the case of audiovisual works, the right to perform the work publicly;
5. In the case of literary, musical, dramatic and choreographic works, pantomimes and pictorial, graphic or sculptural works, the right to display the work publicly.

These exclusive rights may be transferred by the copyright owner as individual rights or as a "bundle of rights."

Q: What is meant by fair use (section 107)?

A: Four factors are to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use of a copyrighted work is fair:

1. Purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. Nature of the copyrighted work;
3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the work as a whole; and
4. Effect of the use upon potential market for or value of the work.

Q: What is meant by the "classroom exemption?"

A: This exemption (section 110) refers to performance or display of copyrighted works in a classroom setting. The language in the law reads:

. . . performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, unless, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, the performance, or the display of individual images, is given by means of a copy that was not lawfully made . . . and that the person responsible for the performance knew or had reason to believe it was not lawfully made . . . (is not an infringement).

Q: Is a work without a copyright notice considered to be in the public domain?

A: No, not if it was published after March 1, 1989. There is a lack of awareness among educators concerning an important change for copyright notice which occurred at that time. As of March 1, 1989, placement of a copyright notice on works became optional when the U.S. joined the Berne Convention. Placement of notice is certainly recommended; it is very difficult to locate a copyright owner when the notice is absent. However, just because the notice is absent, we cannot assume that anything published since March 1, 1989 is in the public domain unless specifically told so. Now we assume, unless the works are specifically in the public domain or meet a few other criteria, that a work is copyrighted when it is fixed in a tangible medium. Of course, this includes postings on electronic bulletin boards, Internet messages, etc. unless told it may be reposted.

Multimedia Guidelines

When creating multimedia projects for classroom purposes, students may use small portions of copyrighted works with proper attribution.

Specifically students may use:

Students must:

Student’s Checklist for ePlagiarism Prevention

 © 2002 Liotta-Kolencik

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Links to Copyright Information