Copyrights

Copyright Infringement (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law. Use of copyrighted material violates copyright owner's rights and is a serious crime. Most documents, articles, photos, graphics, audio, and video are copyrighted. Facts and ideas are, however, not. Read on...

The Copyright Holder
The copyright holder is the entity who owns the right to publish and distribute a certain work, create new works based on the initial work and to display a work in public. It is often a misunderstanding that a work has to display a copyright logo to be protected when, if fact, copyright starts as soon as a work is written, created, or recorded.

Educators do have the possibility to use an original work in some cases.

  • if the work is in the public domain (this applied not only to educators). work in the public domain was created before 1923.
  • governmental work (is free to use for all)

Contents of email or list postings also belong to the author but may be used when paraphrased. Usenet/mailing list follow-up postings, however, are considered as "commentary and reply" and fall under fair use. Private correspondence should always be honored as 'private'.

The Public Domain
Work in the public domain no longer has copyright and may be used any which way anyone pleases. Currently work in the public domain is considered work before 1928 (70 years.)

Fair Use
The Fair Use copyright law was created to allow parody, commentary, news reporting, research, and education about copyrighted works without permission. Fair use is, however, only a short excerpt and the true source should be mentioned. The excerpt should in no way damage the commercial value of the original work. Fair use is based on the following:

  • purpose of the use (is it for profit or nonprofit educational use?)
  • nature of the original work (factual or original)
  • amount to be used (only a small abstract may be used)
  • value of the work

Permission
Permission should always be sought from the publisher or the author when a work is going to be used repeatedly or in its whole when it is over 2,500 words.

Multimedia works may be used in portion by students in their work for school or a job interview. Faculty may use portions in their classroom, in workshops, or in professional portfolios. A team effort creation between students and faculty may only be used for two years before permission is required.

Websites
The creator of a website owns the copyright. This means that a company that hires you to do their pages must continue to use you for site maintenance or they may want you to sign off this right in a contract. The website designer is also legally responsible for the contents of the pages. As an example: advertising that you sell something for $400 you are required by law to sell it for $40 if you erred and wrote $40 on the site. Ignorance is no excuse. Pages should be carefully proofread.

Audio / Video
Copyright for music is exempt from copyright if it is for personal use. However, you may not publish music on a website, unless it is your own or you have written permission.

Code
Approval should always be sought before borrowing code unless it explicitly states that its free for use.

Graphics and Photographs
Neither images from books and magazines nor photographs by others may be scanned and used on web pages without permission. If there are people in the images, a consent form needs to be signed by each individual before the pictures may be posted on a web site or elsewise used. Be sure to read the fine print on sites that offer free photos and graphics. Very few "fair uses" apply to graphics. Best is to take your own photographs and create your own graphics.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the fraudent presentation of someone else's work as your own. Plagiarism will never benefit your career. Avoid it and always read the fine print and cite sources.

Links for further reading