Copyright Presentation

Copyright in the Digital Age:
Do Good Fences Make Good
Neighbors?

Alexandra Dolan
EDG 6931 Designing and
Delivering Online Content

Background ©2009, Geetesh Bajaj.
All rights reserved.http://
www.indezine.com/powerpoint/
Sunday, March 29, 2009 templates/categories/technology/ 1
Sources: laptop.html

Bird, Sarah. (2007). Why You Should Go Through the Trouble of Registering Your Copyright When Everyone Tells You That Your Work
Protected Automatically. SEOMozBlog. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/why-you-should-go-through-the-
trouble-of-registering-your-copyright-when-everyone-tells-you-that-you

Crews, Kenneth. (2003). New Copyright Law for Distance Education: The Meaning and Importance of the TEACH Act. American Libra
Association. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?
Section=Distance_Education_and_the_TEACH_Act&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=25939#newc

Electronic Frontier Foundation. (2002). EFF: Fair Use FAQ. Electronic Frontier Foundation Online. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from
http://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php

United States Copyright Office. (2006). Copyright in General. US Copyright Office Online. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://
www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#what

United States Copyright Office. (2006). Copyright Office Basics, Circular One. US Copyright Office Online. Retrieved March 17, 2009
from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci

United States Copyright Office. (2006). Fair Use. US Copyright Office Online. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://www.copyright.g
fls/fl102.html

Copyright: A Gross Oversimplification
“Copyright is a form of protection grounded in
the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for
original works of authorship fixed in a tangible
medium of expression. Copyright covers both
published and unpublished works.”
-Source: US Copyright Office, Copyright in General, 2006.

laptop.html
“One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work” (US
Copyright Office, 2006, Fair Use). However, copyright has some important limitations; most notably: Fair Use, and the applicability
of the TEACH Act, which we will go into later.

What Can I Copyright?
• Copyright protection is applicable to original content fixed in a
tangible form of expression.
• If you create something on your own time, for your own
purposes, you own it and are the copyright owner.
• If you create something with others, you may share copyright
ownership.
• If you create something for your employer while on the clock,
the employer is the copyright owner.
• Sources:
Copyright Office Basics, Circular One. (2006). US Copyright Office. Retrieved
March 17, 2009 from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci
Bird, Sarah. (2007). Why You Should Go Through the Trouble of Registering Your
Copyright When Everyone Tells You That Your Work is Protected Automatically.
SEOMozBlog. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/ why-
you-should-go-through-the-trouble-of-registering-your-copyright-when-everyone-
tells-you-that-you
laptop.html
“What Works Are Protected? Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form
of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a
machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories: literary works;musical works, including
any accompanying words; dramatic works, including any accompanying music; pantomimes and choreographic
works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; sound recordings;
and architectural works. These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most
“compilations” may be registered as “literary works”; maps and architectural plans may be registered as “pictorial,
graphic, and sculptural works.””
From Copyright Office Basics, Circular One. (2006). US Copyright Office. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci

Copyright ownership is conveyed automatically, but there are many practical reasons why one would
and should register their copyright with the US Copyright Office. For more information, please visit: Bird,
Sarah. (2007). Why You Should Go Through the Trouble of Registering Your Copyright When Everyone Tells You
That Your Work is Protected Automatically. SEOMozBlog. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from: http://
www.seomoz.org/blog/why-you-should-go-through-the-trouble-of-registering-your-copyright-when-everyone-tells-
you-that-you

Copyrightable Online Material:
• Includes:
»Websites
»Blogs
»Emails
»Videos and Podcasts
»Graphics and Photos
»Sounds and Music
Source: Bird, 2007.

laptop.html

“Exceptions to Copyright: Copyright does not protect ideas, procedures, systems, or methods of operation. Thus
copyright does not protect my ideas for future blog posts or my delicious recipe for smoked cake.
Copyright does not protect facts and purely mechanical, clerical content. The phone book is a great example of this
Copyright does not protect really trite content. Pop music titles/lyrics are often banal to the extreme. If you wrote a s
with the lyric quot;I love you baby,quot; don't count on copyright protection.
Copyright does not protect content that is in the public domain. What is in the public domain? This deserves a more
detailed post down the road, but generally it's content that is very old and the copyright has expired. There are a lot
different rules that determine how long copyright will lasts. Thus, I have to break out the quot;it dependsquot; answer. But if
content was first published before 1923, it's in the public domain by now.
Copyright does not protect content authored by the U.S. government. Thus, we can quote government reports, laws
etc. extensively without crediting the U.S. federal government. Interestingly, this is not true about other governments
the U.K. for example.
Copyright also does not protect so-called quot;fair uses.quot; This is definitely the topic of a future post because it is an
important, controversial, and evolving concept. To put it generally, you can use other people's copyrighted materials
but only for fair uses such as news reporting and teaching. In the U.S. you can also use other people's material for
parody. (Yay!)”
From: Bird, Sarah. (2007). Why You Should Go Through the Trouble of Registering Your Copyright When Everyone
Tells You That Your Work is Protected Automatically. SEOMozBlog. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from: http://
www.seomoz.org/blog/why-you-should-go-through-the-trouble-of-registering-your-copyright-when-everyone-tells-yo
that-you

What Isn’t Protected by Copyright:
A non-inclusive list:
• Intangible Forms of Expression
• Common Knowledge, Phrases, Designs
• Government Works
• Ideas, Procedures, and Processes
• Content in the Public Domain
• Fair Uses of Copyrighted Material
– Sources: Bird, 2007, and US Copyright Office, 2006.

laptop.html
“What Is Not Protected by Copyright? Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal
copyright protection. These include among others: Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of
expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational
speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded); Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans;
familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of
ingredients or contents; Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or
devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration; Works consisting entirely of information
that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and
weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common
sources)”
From: Copyright Office Basics, Circular One. (2006). US Copyright Office. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci

Fair Use:
A Check & Balance on the
Power of Copyright
Rights conveyed to copyright owners are
not absolute, the rights are not guaranteed
for an infinite period of time

“1. What is Fair Use? laptop.html
In essence, fair use is a limitation on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. The Copyright Act gives copyright holders the
exclusive right to reproduce works for a limited time period. Fair use is a limitation on this right. A use which is considered quot;fa
does not infringe copyright, even if it involves one of the exclusive rights of copyright holders. Fair use allows consumers to
make a copy of part or all of a copyrighted work, even where the copyright holder has not given permission or objects to you
use of the work.
2. How does Fair Use fit with Copyright Law?
Copyright law embodies a bargain: Congress gave copyright holders a set of six exclusive rights for a limited time period, an
gave to the public all remaining rights in creative works. The goals of the bargain are to give copyright holders an economic
incentive to create works that ultimately benefit society as a whole, and by doing so, to promote the progress of science and
learning in society. Congress never intended Copyright law to give copyright holders complete control of their works. The
bargain also ensures that created works move into quot;the public domainquot; and are available for unlimited use by the public whe
the time period finishes. In addition, as part of the public's side of this bargain, U.S. Copyright law recognizes the doctrine of
quot;fair usequot; as a limitation on copyright holders' exclusive right of reproduction of their works during the initial protected time
period.
The public's right to make fair use of copyrighted works is a long-established and integral part of US copyright law. Courts ha
used fair use as the means of balancing the competing principles underlying copyright law since 1841. Fair use also reconci
a tension that would otherwise exist between copyright law and the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression.
Supreme Court has described fair use as quot;the guarantee of breathing space for new expression within the confines of Copyr
lawquot;.
3. How Do You Know If It's Fair Use?
There are no clear-cut rules for deciding what's fair use and there are no quot;automaticquot; classes of fair uses. Fair use is decided
a judge, on a case by case basis, after balancing the four factors listed in section 107 of the Copyright statute. The factors to
considered include:
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes -- Courts are more likely to find fair use where the use is for noncommercial purposes.
The nature of the copyrighted work -- A particular use is more likely to be fair where the copied work is factual rather than
creative.
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole -- A court will balance this fa
toward a finding of fair use where the amount taken is small or insignificant in proportion to the overall work.
The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work -- If the court finds the newly created wor
not a substitute product for the copyrighted work, it will be more likely to weigh this factor in favor of fair use.
4. What's been recognized as fair use?
Courts have previously found that a use was fair where the use of the copyrighted work was socially beneficial. In particular,
U.S. courts have recognized the following fair uses: criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research and
parodies.
In addition, in 1984 the Supreme Court held that time-shifting (for example, private, non-commercial home taping of televisio
programs with a VCR to permit later viewing) is fair use. (Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 41
(1984, S.C.)

Fair Use:
4 Determining Factors
1. Purpose and character of use;
2. Nature of Copyrighted Work
3. Amount and substantiality of portion used in
relation to work as a whole;
4. Effect of use upon the potential market for or
value of the copyrighted work.
– United States Copyright Office. (2006). Fair Use. US
Copyright Office Online.

“Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for laptop.html
which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered “fair,”
such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be
considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes;
the nature of the copyrighted work;
amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The distinction between “fair use” and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of
words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material do
not substitute for obtaining permission.
The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activitie
that courts have regarded as fair use: “quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment;
quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author's observations; use in
parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report
reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a
small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental an
fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.”
Copyright protects the particular way an author has expressed himself; it does not extend to any ideas, systems, or factual
information conveyed in the work.
The safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material. The Copyright Of
cannot give this permission.
When it is impracticable to obtain permission, use of copyrighted material should be avoided unless the doctrine of “fair use”
would clearly apply to the situation. The Copyright Office can neither determine if a certain use may be considered “fair” nor
advise on possible copyright violations. If there is any doubt, it is advisable to consult an attorney.”
From: United States Copyright Office. (2006). Fair Use. US Copyright Office Online. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://
www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

The TEACH ACT
• The quot;Technology, Education and Copyright
Harmonization Actquot;

• Became law on November 2, 2002

• Already behind the times in terms of technology
and distance education.
Source: Crews, Kenneth. (2003). New Copyright Law for Distance Education: The
Meaning and Importance of the TEACH Act. American Library Association.

laptop.html
“When educators use any of these works in their teaching, they are using copyright-protected materials. Among the
rights of copyright owners are rights to make copies and rights to make public performances and public displays of
works. An assembled-or even dispersed-group of students may well constitute the quot;publicquot; under the law.
Consequently, educators frequently incur possible violations of owners' rights whenever they copy materials as
handouts, upload works to websites, quot;displayquot; slides or other still images, or quot;performquot; music, videos, and other wor
In the context of traditional, face-to-face teaching, educators long have debated the application of quot;fair usequot; to makin
copies, and the Copyright Act since 1976 has included a relatively simple and broad provision allowing quot;performanc
and quot;displaysquot; in the face-to-face classroom setting (Section 110(1)). The rules for distance education, however, are
significantly different. Both the meaning of fair use and the details of the specific statute (Section 110(2)) become m
more rigorous when the materials are uploaded to websites, transmitted anywhere in the world, and are easily
downloaded, altered, or further transmitted by students and other users-all posing possible threats to the interests o
copyright owners.”
Crews, Kenneth. (2003). New Copyright Law for Distance Education: The Meaning and Importance of the TEACH A
American Library Association. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?
Section=Distance_Education_and_the_TEACH_Act&Template=/ContentManagement/
ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=25939#newc

Teachers use and by necessity, reproduce copyrighted works to use in teaching and learning. Whether that runs
counter to the rights of copyright and is within the bounds of fair use and the TEACh act is often a subjective
determination.

TEACH Act:
• Permits a wider range of works to be used in
the instructional context.
• Does not fully encompass distance education in
its current incarnation.
• Many requirements and conditions required of
educators, technology officers and institutions in
order to merit protection under TEACH Act.
Source: Crews, Kenneth. (2003). New Copyright Law for Distance
Education: The Meaning and Importance of the TEACH Act.
American Library Association.

“Context of Distance Education laptop.html
Comprehending the practical implications of the new legislation also requires understanding the congressional visio
quot;distance educationquot; and the relationship between educators and the institution. The TEACH Act is a clear signal th
Congress recognizes the importance of distance education, the significance of digital media, and the need to resolv
copyright clashes. The new law is, nevertheless, built around a vision that distance education should occur in discre
installments, each within a confined span of time, and with all elements integrated into a cohesive lecture-like packa
In other words, much of the law is built around permitting uses of copyrighted works in the context of quot;mediated
instructional activitiesquot; that are akin in many respects to the conduct of traditional classroom sessions. The law
anticipates that students will access each quot;sessionquot; within a prescribed time period and will not necessarily be able
store the materials or review them later in the academic term; faculty will be able to include copyrighted materials, b
usually only in portions or under conditions that are analogous to conventional teaching and lecture formats. Stated
more bluntly, this law is not intended to permit scanning and uploading of full or lengthy works, stored on a website,
students to access throughout the semester-even for private study in connection with a formal course.”

Benefits of the TEACH Act
The primary benefit of the TEACH Act for educators is its repeal of the earlier version of Section 110(2), which was
drafted principally in the context of closed-circuit television. That law permitted educators to quot;performquot; only certain
types of works and generally allowed transmissions to be received only in classrooms and similar locations. These
restrictions, and others, usually meant that the law could seldom apply to the context of modern, digital transmission
that might utilize a range of materials and need to reach students at home, at work, and elsewhere. The new versio
Section 110(2) offers these explicit improvements:
Expanded range of allowed works. The new law permits the display and performance of nearly all types of works. T
law no longer sweepingly excludes broad categories of works, as did the former law. However, a few narrow classe
works remain excluded, and uses of some types of works are subject to quantity limitations.
Expansion of receiving locations. The former law limited the transmission of content to classrooms and other similar
location. The new law has no such constraint. Educational institutions may now reach students through distance
education at any location.
Storage of transmitted content. The former law often permitted educational institutions to record and retain copies o
the distance-education transmission, even if it included copyrighted content owned by others. The new law continue
that possibility. The law also explicitly allows retention of the content and student access for a brief period of time, a
permits copying and storage that is incidental or necessary to the technical aspects of digital transmission systems.
Digitizing of analog works. In order to facilitate digital transmissions, the law permits digitization of some analog wor
but in most cases only if the work is not already available in digital form.
None of these benefits, however, is available to educators unless they comply with the many and diverse requireme

Things to Ponder:
• How should we proceed when the laws that
govern us fail to keep pace technology?
• How can we balance the needs of education
and evolving educational settings with the
rights of copyright owners?
• Is copyright an anachronism in the digital
age?

Sources: laptop.html

Bird, Sarah. (2007). Why You Should Go Through the Trouble of Registering Your Copyright When Everyone Tells
You That Your Work is Protected Automatically. SEOMozBlog. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from: http://
www.seomoz.org/blog/why-you-should-go-through-the-trouble-of-registering-your-copyright-when-everyone-tells-yo
that-you

Crews, Kenneth. (2003). New Copyright Law for Distance Education: The Meaning and Importance of the TEACH
Act. American Library Association. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?
Section=Distance_Education_and_the_TEACH_Act&Template=/ContentManagement/
ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=25939#newc

Electronic Frontier Foundation. (2002). EFF: Fair Use FAQ. Electronic Frontier Foundation Online. Retrieved Mar
17, 2009 from http://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php

United States Copyright Office. (2006). Copyright in General. US Copyright Office Online. Retrieved March 17,
2009 from http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#what

United States Copyright Office. (2006). Copyright Office Basics, Circular One. US Copyright Office Online. Retriev
March 17, 2009 from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci

United States Copyright Office. (2006). Fair Use. US Copyright Office Online. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http
www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

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