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Fair Use and Copyright Issues

Using copyrighted materials in academia

Courtesy of the TLTC, Jan 27, 2005

  1. The more focused your use of the material, the more applicable fair use is. Don't just use material to use it, make sure it serves a specific purpose.
  2. Citing the source of the material (proper attribution) is very important.
  3. Make sure what you use directly relates to what needs to be taught
  4. Fair use favors transformative uses, like composite images.
  5. Fair use also favors originality, but don't just split up someone's material and put it back together in your own order (say, for like a video clip) and call it your own original work.
  6. Can display/perform something legally purchased in a classroom. Example: it's okay to show a movie that was bought, but if you tape something and show it.. that's fishier... if the status of the show/performance changes (like a series on HBO released on DVD), then you will need to show a legal copy. If you make a bootleg of something and show it, that's illegal.
  7. Linking to something already on the web is fine, but if you take that image, info, movie, etc.. and then place it on your own webpage, especially if you don't attribute that content to the original owner, that can be a problem.
  8. Limiting access to a website that uses non-original or borrowed content helps the situation and shows that it's for a limited audience.
  9. The library may have access to rights for some materials. Make sure you check to see if they can get the material for you.
  10. There are few clear answers in issues of fair use, and many situations remain theoretical until challenged in court.
  11. Educators will find the Fair Use Checklist is the most valuable tool in conducting a fair use analysis of digitized materials for use as class resources. The fair use checklist is available from the Copyright Management Center website.
  12. TLTC staff are available to help analyze materials for use in instruction. As always, IU Counsel is available for consultation about issues of fair use of materials in instruction. Please don't hesitate to contact TLTC staff if you need information about materials you want to use for your class.

 

RESOURCES:

TLTC Fair use and copyright resources
http://www.indiana.edu/~tltl/projects/copyright_cate.html

IU Copyright Management Center, Kenneth Crews, Director
http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/

United States Copyright Office
http://www.copyright.gov/

University of Texas Crash Course on Copyright
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/cprtindx.htm

Stanford University Copyright and Fair Use Center
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/scc/copyright/copyright3.html
And it links to some other good sites.

NC State also has a great site on the TEACH Act, for folks who are doing digital distance ed: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/scc/legislative/teachkit/

Teaching and Learning Technologies Centers   TLTC
ISS/UITS/Main Library Partnership
307 Ballantine Hall   305 Main Library   Indiana University-Bloomington
812.855.7829 http://www.indiana.edu/~tltc/