How+can+copyrighted+works+be+used+in+my+classroom?

This document is a code of best practices that helps educators using media literacy concepts and techniques to interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances—especially when the cultural or social benefits of the use are predominant. It is a general right that applies even in situations where the law provides no specific authorization for the use in question—as it does for certain narrowly defined classroom activities. This guide identifies five principles that represent the media literacy education community’s current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials, wherever and however it occurs: in K–12 education, in higher education, in nonprofit organizations that offer programs for children and youth, and in adult education.
 * How can copyrighted works be used in my classroom? **
 * WHAT THIS IS... **

media type="custom" key="20251402" width="80" height="80"

This code of best practices does not tell you the limits of fair use rights. Instead, it describes how those rights should apply in certain recurrent situations. Educators’ and students’ fair use rights may, of course, extend to other situations as well. It’s not a guide to using material that people give the public permission to use, such as works covered by Creative Commons licenses. Anyone can use those works the way their owners authorize—although other uses also may also be permitted under the fair use doctrine. Likewise, it is not a guide to the use of material that has been specifically licensed (by a school, for example), which may be subject to contractual limitations. It’s not a guide to material that is already free to use without considering copyright (copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/). For instance, all federal government works are in the public domain, as are many older works. For more information on "free use," consult the document "Yes, You Can!" (centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/free_use.pdf).
 * WHAT THIS ISN’T... **

(Center for Social Media: The Code of Best Practices and Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, 2012).

The educational fair use guidelines apply to material used in educational institutions and for educational purposes. Examples of “educational institutions” include K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. Libraries, museums, hospitals, and other nonprofit institutions also are considered educational institutions under most educational fair use guidelines when they engage in nonprofit instructional, research, or scholarly activities for educational purposes.
 * WHAT IS "EDUCATIONAL USE"? **

“Educational purposes” are:


 * noncommercial instruction or curriculum-based teaching by educators to students at nonprofit educational institutions
 * planned noncommercial study or investigation directed toward making a contribution to a field of knowledge, or
 * presentation of research findings at noncommercial peer conferences, workshops, or seminars.

The guidelines permit a teacher to make one copy of any of the following: a chapter from a book; an article from a periodical or newspaper; a short story, short essay, or short poem; a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">RULES FOR REPRODUCING TEXT MATERIALS FOR USE IN CLASS... **

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Teachers may photocopy articles to hand out in class, but the guidelines impose restrictions. Classroom copying cannot be used to replace texts or workbooks used in the classroom. Pupils cannot be charged more than the actual cost of photocopying. The number of copies cannot exceed more than one copy per pupil. And a notice of copyright must be affixed to each copy.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Examples of what can be copied and distributed in class include:


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">a complete poem if less than 250 words or an excerpt of not more than 250 words from a longer poem
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">a complete article, story, or essay if less than 2,500 words or an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less; or
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">one chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture per book or per periodical issue.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay, or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, nor more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume (for example, a magazine or newspaper) during one class term. As a general rule, a teacher has more freedom to copy from newspapers or other periodicals if the copying is related to current events.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">The idea to make the copies must come from the teacher, not from school administrators or other higher authority. Only nine instances of such copying for one course during one school term are permitted. In addition, the idea to make copies and their actual classroom use must be so close together in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a permission request. For example, the instructor finds a newsweekly article on capital punishment two days before presenting a lecture on the subject.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Teachers may not photocopy workbooks, texts, standardized tests, or other materials that were created for educational use. The guidelines were not intended to allow teachers to usurp the profits of educational publishers. In other words, educational publishers do not consider it a fair use if the copying provides replacements or substitutes for the purchase of books, reprints, periodicals, tests, workbooks, anthologies, compilations, or collective works.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">A music instructor can make copies of excerpts of sheet music or other printed works, provided that the excerpts do not constitute a “performable unit,” such as a whole song, section, movement, or aria. In no case can more than 10% of the whole work be copied and the number of copies may not exceed one copy per pupil. Printed copies that have been purchased may be edited or simplified provided that the fundamental character of the work is not distorted or the lyrics altered (or added to).
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">RULES FOR REPRODUCING MUSIC... **

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">A student may make a single recording of a performance of copyrighted music for evaluation or rehearsal purposes, and the educational institution or individual teacher may keep a copy. In addition, a single copy of a sound recording owned by an educational institution or an individual teacher (such as a tape, disc, or cassette) of copyrighted music may be made for the purpose of constructing aural exercises or examinations, and the educational institution or individual teacher can keep a copy.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Instructors may not:


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">copy sheet music or recorded music for the purpose of creating anthologies or compilations used in class
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">copy from works intended to be “consumable” in the course of study or teaching such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and answer sheets, and like material
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">copy sheet music or recorded music for the purpose of performance, except for emergency copying to replace purchased copies which are not available for an imminent performance (provided purchased replacement copies are substituted in due course); or
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">copy any materials without including the copyright notice which appears on the printed copy.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">If copyrighted sheet music is out of print (not available for sale), an educator can request permission to reproduce it from the music publisher. Information about contacting music publishers is provided in Chapter 5. A library that wants to reproduce out-of-print sheet music can use a system established by the Music Publishers’ Association by downloading and completing a form called the “Library Requisition for Out-of-Print Copyrighted Music” from the Association’s website at www.mpa.org/copyright_resource_center/forms.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Nonprofit educational institutions can record television programs transmitted by network television and cable stations. The institution can keep the tape for 45 days, but can only use it for instructional purposes during the first ten of the 45 days. After the first ten days, the video recording can only be used for teacher evaluation purposes, to determine whether or not to include the broadcast program in the teaching curriculum. If the teacher wants to keep it within the curriculum, he or she must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The recording may be played once by each individual teacher in the course of related teaching activities in classrooms and similar places devoted to instruction (including formalized home instruction). The recorded program can be repeated once if necessary, although there are no standards for determining what is and is not necessary. After 45 days, the recording must be erased or destroyed.
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 29px;">RULES FOR RECORDING AND SHOWING TELEVISION PROGRAMS... **

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">A video recording of a broadcast can be made only at the request of and only used by individual teachers. A television show may not be regularly recorded in anticipation of requests—for example, a teacher cannot make a standing request to record each episode of a PBS series. Only enough copies may be reproduced from each recording to meet the needs of teachers, and the recordings may not be combined to create teaching compilations. All copies of a recording must include the copyright notice on the broadcast program as recorded and (as mentioned above) must be erased or destroyed after 45 days.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">(Copyright & Fair Use, Stanford University Libraries, 2010).

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Below you will find a link to a helpful 2-page poster about the Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers. This poster can be used as a reference to any questions regarding copyright in educational settings. <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[]
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; line-height: 23px;">ADDITIONAL RESOURCES... **

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A brochure titled "Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians." This handout covers the fair use and photocopying provisions of the copyright law.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[]