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Online Copyright
Issues |
Using Material Found on the Internet
The following is from “Georgetown University
“Does
copyright exist on the Internet? Absolutely. While new
technologies may facilitate the easy placement online and instantaneous
dissemination of text, images, and sounds, they do not nullify copyright
protection. You should assume that most of the materials on the Internet are
copyrighted, including electronic mail messages. Once an expression is
committed to tangible medium, including a computer file, it is protected. No
notice is required. So unless a work is in the public domain or the copyright
owner allows further reproduction, unauthorized copying in excess of fair use
or other lawful exceptions is prohibited.
“When working on the Internet keep in mind:
- It is tempting to copy or
download software and other electronic information sources with the press
of a keystroke; however, remember that ease of use does not make it
lawful;
- Include a copyright
notice on materials you author and post; the University encourages you
to grant permission to copy for non-profit education or research purposes,
such as a Creative Commons License,
provided credit is given to you as the original author, unless your work
is subject to contractual restrictions or conditions for which the
charging of a royalty would be appropriate;
- Look for a copyright notice
on other materials to help determine what use is permissible;.
- Unless permission
to use the materials is explicitly stated, falls within fair
use or one of the other
limitations on the rights of copyright owners or is subject to a
license, do not copy, download, scan, digitize, or forward materials
without the explicit consent of the copyright owner as documented in
writing. Do not re-post such material on your own web site without
permission. Instead, use a link to the source material.”
Three Common Misconceptions
about Copyright
- If there is no copyright symbol ([C]), the work is not
protected by copyright.
- Copyright protects ideas.
- Copyright was created primarily to protect an author's
intellectual property.
The Facts: - Original works are protected by copyright from the
moment they are fixed in a tangible medium.
- Copyright protects the expression of ideas, not
the ideas themselves
- The primary purpose of copyright is to promote
learning, not to protect property (1)
10 (more) Big Myths about copyright
The
Copyright Balance (2)
- Copyright law attempts to balance the rights of the
author with the rights of the public, but congressional action, judicial
interpretation, and international treaties continuously adjust the pivot
point of that balance.
- The balance has steadily shifted away from promoting
the public good (learning) in favor of protecting the copyright owner's
property.
- Types of work protected by copyright have expanded-from
the just published maps and books to virtually any work that is fixed in a
tangible medium
- Term of protection has been extended from 14 years to the
life of the author plus 70 years
Fair Use
- Provision in 1976 Copyright Act attempted to redress
this growing imbalance
- Sets a limit on the monopolistic control of the author.
- If the use of a work promotes learning, knowledge, and
the public good and if its use will do relatively little harm to the
author's property rights, then it is not necessary to get the author's
permission to use the work.
- 1. What is the character of the use?
- 2. What is the nature of the work to be used?
- 3. How much of the work will you use?
- 4. What effect would this use have on the market for
the original or for permissions if the use were widespread?
- * An unwritten 5th factor: Time limits
Fair Use Rules of Thumb (University of Texas)
Copyright
& the Web (3)
- When you access a web page, you are (temporarily)
copying the page info to your computer
- When you use your browser's Save
function to save the Web page to your computer, do you have a valid fair
use argument for doing so?
- A link is a URL, a fact not unlike a street
address, and is therefore not copyrightable. However, a list may be
copyrightable under a compilation copyright if it contains some
originality
- Implied public access: by putting yourself on the
Web, you have given implied permission to others to link to your Web page,
and everyone else on the Web is deemed to have given you implied
permission to link to their Web pages. Netiquette dictates that: Links to
other Websites be removed if the linkee objects.
- Composite Webpages, e.g. frames & other
methods of creating pages by "hidden links" to graphics and
other elements from the original sources; implied public access does not
apply if context is changed.
- For more: Copyright Website: Website Issues, Copyright Law in Cyberspace
- Ask permission: See: Getting Permission, Obtaining Permissions
- Use public domain materials: See:
- When Works Pass into the Public Domain,
Images on the Web: Links to the best sources for all types of images on the Web,
WebPlaces: Sounds: Links to public domain sounds - Make it yourself: See Centers for Teaching & Learning
- Purchase rights:
Educational
Fair Use Guidelines For Digital Images (proposed by CONFU-
Conference on Fair Use)
More Resources
Fair Use Web Resource Links (page by Kim Lim)
UC Copyright Education Web Site
Copyright
Primer (from Center for Intellectual Property, University of Maryland)
Fair Use of Copyrighted Works - CETUS (CSU-SUNY-CUNY)
Copyright and Web Teaching
(Dartmouth Univ.)
Ginsburg, Jane C. "Stolen Content: Avoiding Trouble on the Web." Academe
Jan-Feb., 2001.
Works Cited
1. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor: "The primary objective of copyright is not
to reward the labor of authors, but `[t]o promote the
Progress of Science and useful Arts.' To this end, copyright assures authors
the right to their original expression, but encourages others to build freely
upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work. This result is neither
unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means by which copyright advances the
progress of science and art."
(Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Feist
Publications. Inc. v. Rural Telephone SerLice
Co., 499
2. "Three Common Assumptions"
& "Copyright Balance" based on: Hilton, James. "Copyright Assumptions and Challenges". Educause Review, Nov./Dec.
2001, Vol. 36, Issue 6, page 46+.
3. Copyright
Website: Website Issues
4. See: "How to Stay Legal"
from Web Teaching (
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last revised: 10-8-09 |
