Copyright Bee

Answers to common questions on copyright law: 

1. What is copyright?

It is a law that protects the creators of original works from unauthorized use of their intellectual property.

2. Do we, the public, have a right to use art and music?

In some situations, yes. Fair use will come into play here. It protects the right of the public to use these materials in limited and constructive ways.

3. What is public domain?

Any work that is no longer under a copyright is considered public domain. You may use these without permission, but you still need to give credit to the source.

4. What is fair use?

Fair use provides educators and students with the rights to use limited amounts of copyrighted materials as teaching materials. The materials used must be for a nonprofit educational use, and should try not to prevent the author from making a profit. They are also very limited in how much you can use.

5. Can I use a Smithsonian photograph in a report?

Yes, students have permission from the Smithsonian to use images for school assignments. In fact, the government provides many public domain materials on their websites. Just be sure to check copyrights before using.

6. How much of a song or video can I use?

For video, you are restricted to 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less. For written material, you can use 10% or up to 1000 words, again whichever is less. For music and written material related to music, such as lyrics, you can use up to 10% or no more than 30 seconds.

7. What if it doesn’t have the copyright symbol on it?

An item can still be copyrighted even if it doesn’t have the symbol. Almost everything on the internet is under the copyright law; whether it shows the accepted symbol or not.

8. Can I put my project on a website to show my friends?

Unfortunately no. When you put your work on a public website, it is no longer restricted to your school and education. Copyrighted material only falls under the fair use clause when it stays within the school.

9. What is attribution?

When you attribute something to someone, you give them credit. This is important with copyright law. You have to give the creator credit whenever you use any original material.

10. I want to use something from a website, but I can’t find any copyright information!

Just because you don’t see the information, doesn’t mean it’s not copyrighted. The best thing to do is seek the approval of the author. Write an email to the contact person and ask for “permission to use.” Wait until you get a response before you take any liberties; never assume that receiving no response means it’s okay to use.

11. Why should I follow copyrights? Who’s going to find out if I don’t?

I hope your own conscience would not allow it! Think about how you feel when someone takes credit for your idea. If the situation were reversed and someone was using your original work without your permission, you’d be very upset! You’re also taking away from someone’s livelihood. Whenever you have a copyright situation, you must remember that making that music, creating that art, or writing that book is the author’s job. They have the right to earn their pay. You wouldn’t want to work for free, would you?

Here is a situation in which it would be important to follow copyright law in the classroom:
I have assigned a class project as a review for the SOL test coming up in a few weeks. I divide the students into pairs and assign them a topic. They are to create a presentation that hits the highlights of their unit to share with the other students. One pair is assigned thermal energy and heat transfer. They want to use the song “This is Why I’m Hot” by MIMS to help make the topic more exciting for their peers and as an attention grabber. I think it’s a great idea so I approve, but only if they use 30 seconds or less and credit MIMS in their powerpoint.