The Importance of Adhering to Copyright and Fair Use Laws

Using Images to Enhance Learning

There's no doubt that documenting our personal perspectives and projects online is a wonderful way to share experiences and expand points of view. For many of us, especially teachers, adding visuals to accompany the information we post on our pages can help us to better reach our readers or even serve as a helpful reminder for ourselves. However, we may not always have the appropriate images in our own collections to do so. Luckily, we can often turn to the Internet's archive of images to assist us. Though there are many individuals who generously share their work online for others to use at no cost, this does not mean that every image we find is free to use. This is why it is critical for us to be aware of the Copyright and Fair Use laws that have been set in place before we decide to "borrow" an image. In knowing what we can and can't utilize, we protect ourselves from lawsuits and the work of others from being stolen.

Being Aware of Copyright and Fair Use Laws

So how do we know which images we can use and what we can and can't do with them? The University of Maryland has developed a Copyright and Fair Use page specifically designed to inform individuals of these details. For a brief overview, I will also discuss some of the fundamentals of these guidelines in this post.

What is Copyright?

As cited within the aforementioned page, copyright is defined as "a legal device that provides the creator of a work of art or literature, or a work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the work is used". By the definition alone, we can see how copyright laws are a great advantage for anyone who wishes to share their information or images while maintaining the proper recognition they deserve for their hard work. This law helps to facilitate and advance our ability to access knowledge while providing creators with an economic incentive to continue creating and sharing new works.

What can be Copyrighted?

According to the United States Copyright Office, there are 3 fundamental requirements for something to be copyrighted:

1. Fixation: The item must be "fixed," meaning it is tangible in the sense that it is physically written, recorded, posted online, or stored on an electronic device.
2. Originality: The work must be original - either entirely or partially. Partial originality includes works that are combined, adapted, or transformed in new ways that would make them eligible for copyright protection.
3. Minimal Creativity: The work must include something that is above and beyond the original (verbatim use is not classified as original). References to original works, however, are considered original.

In addition, copyright protection allows authors 4 basic protections:
1. The right to make copies of the work
2. The right to sell or distribute copies of the work
3. The right to prepare new works based on the protected work
4. The right to perform the protected work (such as in videos or plays) in public

What is Fair Use?

The term fair use is the ultimate limitation on a copyright holder's exclusive rights. It refers to the ability for others to replicate or copy an excerpt of a creator's work for specific purposes (such as teaching, research, news, or criticism) without the need for permission or payment. Yet, in asserting our right of fair use, we must carefully consider and weigh 4 factors:

1. The purpose and character of use
2. The nature of copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used
4. The effect of use on the potential market for the copyrighted work

Examples of limited portions that may generally be used in a classroom (with appropriate citations) include:
- Poetry (250 or less words from two or less pages)
- Prose (copies of an article, story, or essay that are 2,500 or less words and excerpts up to 1,000 words or 10% of the total work - whichever is less)
- Illustrations (copies of a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture contained in a book or periodical issue)

For instructors, copying must meet tests for brevity and spontaneity.

Conclusion:

As we can see, there are specific rules to follow when using the work of others. To best protect ourselves and our students, we should understand and teach these rules before beginning online projects. Some useful tips to remember would be:

1. If using the Google Search Engine, filter your image search using the advanced tools that can search by usage rights (some images may be available for use with or without modification and/or for commercial or noncommercial use)
2. Search within archives that are part of the public domain
3. Use websites such as Pixabay or Pics4Learning to access free images

For more in-depth information, be sure to refer back to the UMUC page for further details!