Fair Use Harbor: Fair Use and Copyright in the

Classroom
By, Michael Pelchat (Background Beach, Multimedia Wharf)
Natalie Goldfarb (Single Copying Inlet, Cove of Multiple Copies)
Darlene Valdez (Audio-Visual Lagoon, Dist-Ed. Point)

Background Beach
Upon reading about Background Beach, I came across the topic of Copyright and Fair Use.
A copyright is for the protection of the owner and is an exclusive right by the owner to
duplicate, distribute, display, lend or sell their creations. A copyright protects things such
as:

• Music
• Poetry
• Movies and videos
• Artwork
• Computer Programs

In 1976, congress passed the Copyright Act granting five rights to the copyright owner.

• The right to reproduce copyrighted work.

• The right to prepare derivative work based on the original.
• The right to distribute copies of the work.
• The right to perform the work publicly.
• The right to display the work publicly.

However, copyright does not protect mere facts, names, titles and URL's.

In terms of Fair Use, those who work at a non-profit educational institution, have conditions
for limited use of copyrighted material without having to obtain permission from the owner
for uses such as for scholarship or review. The fair use agreement contains four provisions
which copyrighted material can be used in non-profit educational settings.

• Purpose and character of the use

• Nature of the copyrighted work
• The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted
work as a whole.
• The effect of the use upon the potential market for or the value of the copyrighted
work.

Application for Teachers

As teachers, it is important to teach our students the concepts and values of copyright law.
Students must learn responsibility and be aware of the consequences from copying words or
phrases from books and websites without giving the proper credit or citations for them.
With virtually everything on the web copyrighted, fair use allows students and educators to
use copyrighted work provided it meets within the guidelines listed above.
Multimedia Wharf

Discusses fair use privileges while using copyrighted works for multimedia or hypermedia
assignments within the non-educational boundaries. Multimedia or hypermedia combines
the use of text and graphics with audio and/or video into a computer based environment.
Using a limited number of a relevant piece of work(s) in order to fulfill a legitimate teaching
lesson is within the fair use agreement. In September 1996, a set of guidelines was
established with the cooperation of educators, attorneys, publishers and other interested
parties. These Fair Use Guidelines For Educational Multimedia include the following:

• Students may incorporate others' works into their multimedia creations and perform
and display them for academic assignments.
• Faculty may incorporate others' works into their multimedia creations to produce
curriculum materials.
• Faculty may provide copyrighted works accessible for distance learning provided
only those students will access the material.
• Faculty may demonstrate their multimedia creations at professional symposia and in
their own portfolios.

In addition, the fair use guidelines for educational multimedia provides specific limits on the
amount of copyrighted works that can be used.

• For motion media -(e.g., video clips) up to 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less.
• For text- up to 10% or 1000 words, whichever less.
• For poems -
◦ up to 250 words.
◦ Three poem limit per poet
◦ Five poem limit by different poets from an anthology.
• For music - up to 10% or 30 seconds, whichever is less.
• For photos and images
◦ Up to 5 works from one author.
◦ Up to 10% or 15 works, whichever is less, from a collection.
• Database information-- up to 10% or 2,500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less.
Faculty has a two-year period to retain the copyrighted work for education purposes. After
that, permission must be obtained from the owner of the work. As a general rule, students
and educators should use the smallest portion of copyrighted work necessary to complete
the assignment or task at hand.

Application for Teachers

Teachers should encourage their students to utilize various technological tools such as audio
and video to enhance the effectiveness of research assignments and products provided that
they are within the fair use guidelines. It is important that we have access to copyrighted
material because frequently it is there where we obtain valuable and credible information to
support our objectives.

Single Copying Inlet

There are no particular laws in regard to what a teacher may or may not copy for classroom
use, however there are guidelines that have been set forth by the 1976 Copyright Act and
the House of Representatives' guidelines. According to the House of Representatives'
guidelines teachers may make single copies of the following items:
• A chapter from a book
 • An article from a periodical or newspaper
• A short story
• A short essay
• A short poem
• A chart, graph, diagram, drawing cartoon, or picture from a -
◦ book
◦ periodical
◦ or newspaper

Libraries also offer services that are useful for classroom teachers. For example, if there
are magazines, books, or journals that a class needs access to, a teacher could place the
documents in a reserve room or at the reserve desk. The students are then responsible for
checking out the material for library use and making individual copies (which are cited with
fair use guidelines) if they wish. At the end of the semester in which the materials were
used, it is recommended that the documents be returned to the teacher who requested
them.

A similar practice that is somewhat more questionable is placing the needed documents in
"electronic reserves." The document is put online through a hyperlink and access is
restricted to the class or classes that it is designated for. This makes the whole document
directly accessible to all members of the class.

Making full "coursepacks" without permission from the authors to reproduce is generally
considered bad practice. A coursepack is usually used at the university level when a
professor makes copies of all of the readings for his or her class, puts them all together in
one packet, and then sells the packet in the bookstore. Some universities work with their
professors in acquiring copyright permission in order to make coursepacks.

Application for Teachers

As a teacher I will require printed materials for my lessons, oftentimes in short notice when
I think of a new activity or decide to modify or supplement an existing one. I won't always
have time to get permission to reproduce materials before needed them for my class. By
knowing the guidelines for copying small amounts of material at a time I will be able to
confidently go about my lessons, acquiring permission when time permits, and making
copies or placing material on reserve within the stated guidelines when copies are needed at
the last minute.

Cove of Multiple Copies

When making multiple copies of a document for classroom use, there are specific guidelines
as how much of what types of documents you should copy for your students' use. The
following are the guidelines for making multiple copies:

• For an article, there is a 2,500 word limit.

• For a longer document or prose the limit is either 1,000 words or 10%, whichever is
less.
• For a poem there is a 250 word limit.
• For a longer poem no more than 250 words should be copied.
• No more than one chart, diagram, cartoon, or picture from a
◦ book
◦ periodical,
◦ or newspaper
Additionally,

• The copying must be done at the moment the teacher comes up with the need for
the copies
• It must be unreasonable to obtain permission from the copyright owner
• Only one copy can be made for each student
• The student may not be charged except for the cost of copying (nothing extra)
• The copying is done for only one course
• The same item may not be copied from term to term (permission may be obtained)
◦ However, newspapers and periodicals may be copied as many times as
needed as long as kept within the word limits
• One work may be copied from a single author
• Three authors may be copied from a collective work such as an anthology
• No more than nine instances of multiple copying should be done during a term
• Consumables such as workbooks and standardized tests should not be copied
• Anthologies or collective works may not be made out of copied documents
• If there is time to get a publisher's reprint or to obtain permission you must do so

Application for Teachers

As a teacher I will often require printed materials for all of my students in order to best
present my lessons. Knowing these guidelines will help keep me aware of what I may and
may not copy and they are a good reminder that it is important to prepare lesson plans and
ideas in advance because it is always best to obtain permission to copy materials.

Audio-Visual (AV) Lagoon

The audio visual material is considered anything that consists of a picture, sound, or both.
The use of AV works must incorporate the guidelines of fair use.
Examples:

• videos (VHS, DVD, laser discs)

• 35mm slides
• 16 mm movies

When AV materials can be used

• From the educator to a student in a performance and display usage (protected by

copyright)
• When an educator wants to use AV work copies in an educational situation

The Performance of Display of AV Works

• 1976 Copyright Act only allows teachers to use AV works in face to face teaching to
students
• Currently the Teach Act (2002) limits the use of digital transmission of AV works
that educators can use in 2 situations:
1. The viewing of the AV work has to be relevant to the subject/objective (eg. smallest
amount)
2. The AV work is a "lawfully made" copy

Not appropriate AV use:

• copying a 16mm film onto a VHS videotape
 • copying a 3/4 inch videotape onto a VHS tape
• copying a laser disc onto a videotape
• copying an entire AV work

What is appropriate AV use:

• Allowed to transmit some AV works to students anywhere outside of the classroom
because it's supported by the Teach Act.

Application for Teachers

Its important for future educators to understand the correct usage of AV works so that we
may educate our students about these laws and the appropriate practice pf these materials.
In addition, AV use follows the fair use guidelines that we must be familiar with.

Dist Ed Point

Distant education is considered online learning that meets course requirements instructed
by the teacher/professor with limitations and expectations supported by the Teach Act
(2002). Because of the Teach Act, AV works are permitted to be used for students in a
distant location without requiring permission, given the following situations:

• in non-profit institution
• for students enrolled in a course
• if the material is available for a certain amount of time for students who need them

Criteria for the Teach Act:

• Must use a digital version of the copyright work if available, if not then a copy that
is protected by the Teach Act
• a "reasonable and limited" amount of usage of the AV work that is relevant to the
educational goal
• Images and displays are limited to what is available in the classroom setting
• Use of materials has to be be relevant to course requirement
• copies can not be made
• technological protection of the prevention of AV work is not permitted

Responsibilities:

• Each facility that uses AV works must provide the policies of the copyright materials
• In addition, every place with AV works must include copyright and fair use
information that is visual/accessible to all
• Students must be aware of the copyright protection materials if enrolled in courses
using this material

Pearls of Wisdom

The video that I watched in this segment was about professor Gasaway at the University of
North Carolina regarding the copyright law and the Teach Act. She discussed the reason for
the Teach Act and how it was necessary to but not equivalent to face to face learning. The
Teach Act allows educators to stream videos in only non-profit educational settings such as
a college or university for distance learning.

The complete interview with professor Gasaway further emphasized that the Teach Act does
not replace face to face learning environments but simply makes distance learning easier
and more accessible to students with current technology. Gasaway also stated that distance
learning considers the teachers purposes and the students needs of AV educational
resources. The role of digitizing is clearly outlined with some gray area. Copying work from
VHS to DVD is protected by this law, but vice verse still includes some controversy.
Although the Teach Act understands the usage of these AV works for educational purposes,
students may view them at their convenience with appropriate logins. The Teach Act also
compliments fair use by allowing the student to use AV works to help prepare for exams.
The technical details of labeling something as image or display can be resolved by
considering its usage in a face to face environment. Online, AV works are considered
displays and furthermore this area is supported under this act. Gasaway closed the
interview with answering future and current plans for the Teach Act. She suggested that
considering that this was a newly made Act, educators must work to use this tool effectively
in order to discover any potential flaws in the system so that further action can be made to
correct them. But until then, it's about using the Teach Act to further supplement education
for distant learners.

Application for Teachers

This information is important for me to know as a future educator because the Teach Act
allows distance learning to take place, and in order for that to happen respect for these
rules has to take place. As an educator, distance learning is important to learn how to use
effectively for myself, other educators, and students. It also makes me understand the
benefits of distant learning, and the potential flaws that I may encounter with this system.