1. Introduction:
In order to apply copyright laws, there are several rules of Fair Use that should be applied when asking if one is staying within copyright guidelines and law or one is "breaking the laws". These tests are for Brevity, Spontaneity, and Cumulative Effect.

Brevity - The test for brevity has to do with the amount of material you copy from a work. For instance:The test o
1. A complete poem if less that 250 words; or an excerpt from a longer poem, but not to exceed 250 words.
2. An essay or any such work of 2,500 words or less.
3. Special works that combine prose, poetry and /or illustrations may be use but not more than 10 percent of the whole.
4. An excerpt from a larger printed work not to exceed ten percent or the whole or 1,000 words, which ever is less per class term.
5. One chart, graph, diagram, cartoon or picture per work.

Spontaneity - The test for spontaneity has to do with time, "seizing the moment".
Copying is at the instance and inspiration of the individual teacher, the decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness. When these are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission to use the work from the holder of the copyright or other appropriate person one might be inclined to copy. However, all other rules would still be in effect.

Cumulative Effect - The test has to do with the amount of the work that is copied over time.
1. The copying of the material is for only one course in the school in which the copies are made.
2. Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author during the same term.
3. Not more than three authors from the same collective work may be copied during the same term.
4. There shall not be more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term.

Other sites related to Fair Use:

Stanford University Overview of Copyright and Fair Use
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/cpyright.html

Stanford University Libraries

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

2. Rules for Copying Materials from Works

Print Media

Single copies for Teachers:
A single copy may be made of any of the following by or for a teacher at his or her individual request for his or her scholarly research or use in teaching or preparation to teach a class:

• A chapter from a book
• An article from a periodical or newspaper
• A short story, short essay or short poem
• A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper
• A slide or overhead transparency as long as creation does not exceed ten percent of photographs in one source (book, magazine, filmstrip, etc.) unless the source forbids photographic reproduction

• Each copy includes a notice of copyright
• The copying meets the tests of brevity and spontaneity
• The same teacher does not us the material repeatedly from term to term
• Not more than nine classroom sets are used in one term
• Sets are destroyed after the permitted use
• It complies with the fair use guidelines
• Meets the cumulative effect test

Electronic Media

Software

• A single copy of a software program may only be loaded on a single machine unless otherwise noted in the documentation which comes with the software. Example: A teacher may not purchase a single software program for home and also bring it to school and load it on a school machine.
• Site licensing software may be used as described in the license. Example: A 30 user liscense may be used on 30 single machines or may be loaded on a server which has counter software and will only allow access to 30 users.
• Network versions of software must only be accessed by the number of machines for which the license is purchased. Example: You may not load a 25 user network license on a server and then let 75 students access the software at the same time.
• Some software products allow teachers and/or students to take home a "home" version. If teachers or students do this, they must abide by the instructions that accompany the software package and liscense. Example: HyperStudio has student version. Before the student takes this home, he/she must have parents sign a home user agreement. The student must follow any other restrictions in the license. Teachers may also take the program home as long as they abide by the regulations outlined in the license.
• It is in the best interest of all schools to keep good records of software licenses and keep count of how many are being used either by "counter" software on the server or through inspecting machines throughout the building. Keeping a notebook with all licenses and purchase oreders is the best way to stay on the right path.

Periodical Data Bases (Infotrac, NewsBank, Pro-Quest, etc.)

• Single copies of an article taken from a full-text periodical database within the conditions of fair use are legal to copy.
• Media Centers may make a single copy if it is to be used for private study or research. If the user later uses the reproduction for purposes in excess of fair use then the user is liable for copyright infringement.

• Copying of any portions of copyrighted material from the Internet to be included in a student and/or teacher produced presentation must meet the fair use guidelines.
• A copied image may not be altered or modified into something different from the intent of the copyright holder. For instance, the medium may not be changed from print to a scanned image or from video to a printed picture.
• If a student or teacher is preparing a presentation to use outside of the classroom (ie. state or local presentation, contest, etc.) permission from the author to use must be obtained.

• Copying any portion of copyrighted material to be included in a student and/or teacher produced presentation must meet the fair use copyright guidelines.
• An image copied may not be altered or modified into something different from the intent of the copyright holder. Example: You purchase a CD-ROM with pictures which can be used for presentations. You may not use these pictures in a video you are preparing for another use.

• Using a computer scanner to convert print material into digital form is a violation of copyright laws unless it meets the fair use copyright guidelines or permission is granted from the author.

Designing Web Pages and the Law
The copyright laws apply when you are designing web pages. It is a copyright violation to "grab" internet sites for use on another server. The fair use rules apply. Teachers and students may use a small amount for classroom use. However, there are many graphics and pictures on the web that are copyrighted materials and just because it doesn't say it is copyrighted that does not mean is isn't. Under the copyright rules, all media is copyrighted. If there is a statement that the site is public domain or can be copied by teachers, etc. then you have permission to copy.

As you make web pages, you might be interested in the following article about linking to other sites.
Linking Rights by Brad Templeton
http://www.clari.net/brad/linkright.html
 

Using Text and Graphics from the Internet

Read all about using text and graphics taken from the Internet in these articles.

The Mystery Behind the Copyright
Written By Christopher B. Skvarka
http://www.pitt.edu/~skvarka/education/copyright/

Other Sites of Interest

A brief intro to copyright- by Brad Templeton
http://www.clari.net/brad/copyright.html

10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained - by Brad Templeton
http://www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.html

US Copyright Office
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/

Cornell Law School
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/copyright.html

Fenwick and West LLP : Articles about the copyright laws
http://www.batnet.com:80/oikoumene/FWArts.html

Intellectual Property and Technology Forum at Boston College Law School
http://infoeagle.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/st_org/ipg/iptf/

A Crucial Element in Educating America
http://www.cetus.org/fairindex.html

Subject matter of copyright laws
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/102.shtml

Software Publishers Association
http://www.spa.org/project/edu_copyright/cpokay.htm

Business Software Alliance
http://www.bsa.org/piracy/guide/facts.html

Two Steps Towards Reaping the Benefits of Original Software For Your Organization.
http://www.bsa.org/piracy/guide/twostep.html

Multimedia Law
http://www.batnet.com:80/oikoumene/index.html

Cyberspace Law Center
http://www.cybersquirrel.com/clc/index.html

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