Copyright and Fair Use

Whenever someone creates original material, from images or books, they gain the legality of ownership through copyrights. The creator is the only one with the exclusive rights of the distribution for their entire material, to use and share as they wish. One can obtain permission to use this material but only if they contact the owner, and pay for the rights to use it. Those that use the material unendorsed, is conducting illegal activity. This limitations can effect educators, as many cases schools cannot afford to buy the rights for all the books educators may wish to share to their students. A loop hole to this rule for educators is Fair Use. Fair Use allows for the copyrighted material to be used for educational purposes without direct approval; but is limited to using only part of the original work, and must correctly cite the author in its use. So for example if wanting to share an educational pertinent song, it can be done through Fair Use, but only 10% or 30 seconds of the song can be shared. As long as the material isn’t modified or commercial value effected, educators are allowed to share parts of copyrighted material that would have otherwise been denied. Also in regards to commercial use this means that whole books or worksheets can’t be copied and distributed. If a school could not afford to buy the rights for a book instead of being denied the possibilities of sharing anything from this material an educator could share a passage from the book. However trying to copy the whole book would be illegal as it would limit the commercialism for the author as many students would be gaining access to their whole material for free instead of lawfully paying for it.

Creative commons license are public copyrighted material that is more accessible than traditional copyrighted works. With material under this it can be accessed freely and shared if accredited properly. For educational purposes, it is allowing for liberty and access to more worldwide information. Accordingly there are different types of creative commons licenses that allow for varying restrictive levels. The icon shaped as a person, or the letters “BY” mean that one can share the material freely if properly credited and liked license information, with these type of license one can also add onto or change the information if they also make note of any changes. The icon shaped as an equal sign, meaning no derivative works (ND) allows for the sharing of information but if personally changed it can’t be shared. The icon of a circling line or letters “SA” allows for the same liberties as BY but those that make changes must create licenses for their changes, under the originals license right. The sign with a crossed out dollar sign means noncommercial, acronym NC, has the same rules as BY, except the material can’t be used for commercial purposes. All commons license have an encircled “CC” signifying their license, and they all also have a BY but the rest can be modified by adding different signs such as which allows for the sharing of material as long as it’s not for commercial use, creator is credited, and no modifications were made.  

Picture of Acronym

Found at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/CC-BY-NC-ND.png