Copyright Law, Fair Use,

Creative Commons, and the

Public Domain
 Copyright Law
p Protects authors of original works including
literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain
other intellectual property.
p Grants copyright holders the exclusive right to
reproduce, perform, distribute, translate and
publicly display their original works.
p Covers both published and unpublished works,
regardless of the nationality or domicile of the
author.
p Exists to foster creativity and spur the distribution
of new and original works.
 Copyright Law
p Copyright protection exists from the moment a
work is created in a fixed, tangible form of
expression; the copyright immediately becomes
the property of the creator.
p Ownership of copyright-protected work permits
lending, reselling, disposing, etc., of the item, but
does not permit reproducing, publicly displaying or
performing it, or engaging in any of the acts
reserved for the copyright holder.
p To legally use copyrighted materials, you must
obtain permission from the copyright holders or a
copyright licensing agent.
 Duration of
Copyright Law
p Works created on or after January 1, 1978, are
protected by copyright from the moment of creation
until 70 years after the author's death.
p For anonymous works, pseudonymous works, and works
made for hire, the duration of copyright is 95 years from
publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is
shorter.
p Works published with notice from 1923-1963 are
protected for 28 years plus the option to renew for
another 67 years.
p Works published with notice from 1964-1977 are
protected for 28 years for the first term, plus an
automatic extension of 67 years for the second term.
 Duration of
Copyright Law
p Works created before 1-1-78 but not published are
protected from 1-1-78 for life + 70 years or 12-31-
2002, whichever is later.
p Works created before 1-1-78 and published
between then and 12-31-2002 are protected from
1-1-78 for life + 70 years or 12-31-2047, whichever
is later.
p Copyright has expired for works published before
January 1, 1923, meaning they are in the public
domain and free to use without permission.
 Fair Use
p Is a concept that recognizes that certain uses of
copyright-protected works do not require
permission from the copyright holder or its agent.
p Is a guideline, whereas Copyright is a law.
p Is primarily intended to allow the use of copyright-
protected works for commentary, parody, news
reporting, research and education.
p Is flexible; copyright law does not specify how it
should be applied.
 Educational
Fair Use Principles
p Employing Copyrighted Material in Media Literacy
Lessons. Educators are allowed to make copyrighted
material available to learners in class, workshops, informal
teaching, and school-related web sites. They should use
material relevant to the topic, only necessary material,
and provide proper attribution and citation.
pEmploying Copyrighted Materials in Preparing

Curriculum Materials. Educators are allowed to use

copyrighted materials to create lesson plans, materials,
etc. to apply the principles of media literacy in an
educational context. They should credit and cite sources
and use only what is necessary for the educational goal.
pSharing Media Literacy Curriculum Materials.

 Educators using concepts and techniques of media

literacy should be able to share effective examples of
such at conferences, trainings, professional development
sessions, and electronically. They should use only what is
 Educational
Fair Use Principles
pStudent Use of Copyrighted Materials in Their Own
Academic and Creative Work. Students strengthen their
media literacy skills by creating messages and using symbolic forms
to express themselves and share meaning. Media production can foster
a deeper understanding of media construction, which is a key concept
of media literacy. Student use of material is not a substitute for their
own creative efforts, however. They should be able to understand and
demonstrate how their use of a copyrighted work transforms or
repurposes the original.

pDeveloping Audiences for Student Work. Students

learn most when they are expected to behave in a responsible manner
as creators of media and are encouraged to reach audiences beyond
the classroom. Student work incorporating the use of copyrighted
material may be distributed to wide audiences if it meets the
transformativenessstandard. Educators should explore with students
the differences between material that should be licensed, is in the
public domain or otherwise openly available, and copyrighted material
subject to fair use. Providing proper attribution also should be
emphasized. If students wish to distribute their work more broadly,
then educators should model the real-life permissions process and
Determining Fair Use
When deciding whether an unlicensed use of
copyrighted material is fair, courts consider the
following guidelines and best practices:
n What is the purpose and character of the use?
n What is the nature of the copyrighted work?
n What is the amount of the portion used?
n What is the effect of the use upon the potential
market for, or value of, the copyrighted work?
Determining
n Fair
Did the unlicensed use "transform" Use
the material
by using it for a different purpose than that of the
original, or did it just repeat the work for the
same intent and value as the original?
n Was the material used appropriate in kind and
amount, considering the nature of the
copyrighted work and of the use?
n An example demonstrating the principles
of these key questions can be observed
by viewing this video.
Creative Commons
p Is a non-profit organization that provides free
licenses and other legal tools to mark creative
work with the freedom the creator wants it to
have.
p Can be used to change your copyright terms from
“all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved.”
p Works alongside copyright, so you can modify your
copyright terms to best suit your needs.
p Creators choose a set of conditions they wish to be
applied to their work.
 Creative Commons
License Conditions
Attribution: You allow others to copy, distribute, display, and perform your
copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit
the way you request.

Share Alike: You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license
identical to the license that governs your work.

Noncommercial: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work
and derivative works based upon it for noncommercial purposes only.

No Derivative Works: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only
verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
 Public Domain
p The term "public domain" refers to works that are not
protected by intellectual property laws such as
copyright, trademark or patent laws.
p Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining
permission, but no one can ever own it.
p Collections of public domain material may be protected
by the “collective works” copyright. For example, you
may use individual images within a collection without
permission but not the entire collection.
p Works arrive in the Public Domain in four ways:
expiration of copyright; failure to renew copyright;
dedication (the owner deliberately places the work in
the public domain); or no copyright protection is
available for the type of work.
Examples of Images in the
 References
p Creative Commons. 2009. Licenses. Retrieved 7/5/09 from
http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/.
p Creative Commons. 2009. What is Creative Commons? Retrieved 7/5/09
from http://creativecommons.org/about/what-is-cc.
p Electronic Frontier Foundation. 2002. Fair Use Frequently Asked
Questions and Answers. Retrieved 7/8/09 from
http://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php.
p Google Images. 2009. Public Domain Images. Retrieved from
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4ADBF_en___US
.
p Rebelliouspixels, Jonathan. (2009, June 19.) Buffy vsEdward: Twilight
Remixed. Youtube. Video retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwM3GvaTRM.
p Stanford University Libraries. 2009. The Public Domain. In Copyright
and Fair Use Overview, (Chapter 8.) Retrieved 7/10/09 from
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter8/index
.
p United States Copyright Office. 2009. Copyright Basics. U.S. Copyright
Office. Retrieved 7/2/09 from http://www.copyright.gov/.
p United States Copyright Office. 2009. Fair Use. U.S. Copyright Office.
Retrieved 7/2/09 from http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.
 Presented by:
Anely Arencibia
EME 5207
Designing
Technology-Rich Curricula
Summer 2009
Professor C. Sessums

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United
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sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco,