home

=Copyright Guidelines for Teachers=

//**Created by the Students in GED 597 at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont**//

__**According to the Copyright Law and technology Website**__
 * Copyright laws are constantly changing and subject to intepretation
 * According to Langran et al, “teachers and students can use copyrighted material legally without the author's permission if it falls under fair use in education. Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act deals with the question of fair use, and reads as follows: "the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction ... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching ..., scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."
 * To qualify for fair use, four factors must be weighed:
 * 1) purpose of use
 * 2) nature of the work
 * 3) amount used
 * 4) effect on the market”

Source: Langran, Elizabeth, Langran, Robert, & Bull, Glen. (April 2005)Copyright law and technology.(The Connected Classroom). In //Learning & Leading with Technology//, 32, p24(3). Retrieved November 13, 2006, from //InfoTrac OneFile// via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A131232114&source=gale&userGroupName=vol_b92stm&version=1.0 Ashley & Janelle

= =

__**© What Can’t I Steal? ©**

Works That Are Protected__
 * 1) literary works;
 * 2) musical works, including any accompanying words
 * 3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music
 * 4) pantomimes and choreographic works
 * 5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
 * 6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works
 * 7) sound recordings
 * 8) architectural works

Taken from: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp Justin


 * __What Can I Steal?__**

What Is Not Protected by Copyright?
Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others: Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded) Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)

Anything produced by the federal government is "fair game" for anyone to use. This would include anything on the Library of Congress Web site. The only other tangible works that are not afforded copyright protection are works in the public domain. Even that body of work is nowhere near as extensive as is commonly believed. In the United States, for example, the public domain includes · works published before January 1, 1923. · works published between 1923 and 1978 that did not contain a valid copyright notice. · works published between 1923 and 1978 for which the copyright was not renewed. · works authored by employees of the federal government. · works that the copyright owner has freely granted to the public domain.

Taken from: http://www.copyright.gov/circ/circ1.html#wwp and http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280a.shtml

Lacey, Emily, Andrew and Dave

__**Rules of Thumb**__

Most copyright experts recommend this rule of thumb -- Always assume a work is copyrighted and ask permission to use it. Even if you use quoatation marks and properly cite your source, you may still be committing copyright infringement. (Although, you are covering yourself for plagiarism!)

Works in the Public Domain are not subject to copyright laws. (For example - US Government information). "Because of the duration of copyright protection established in the 1976 revision of the U.S. Copyright Act, no works published after January 1, 1978, will pass into the public domain until at least 2048. Even anonymous works are copyright protected until 95 years after publication!"

from "Copyrights and Copying Wrongs" ([|http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280a.shtml)] ~Shannon


 * __What is or is not copyrighted? Who can file for a copyright claim?__**

1. Any work that is "created" is copyrighted. For something to be created it has to be written down or recorded. 2. Works created on or after January 1, 1978 automatically fall under copyright laws. Any works created before that date have been worked into the copyright statute. 3. There are no international copyright laws however most countries will work to protect copyrighted works. 4. The following person(s) may file a copyright claim:
 * The author of a work
 * A copyright claimant
 * The owner of exclusive rights
 * The duly authorized agent of such author, other copyright claimants or the owner of exclusive rights or owner.

Taken from the U.S. Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/

__**Creative Commons - a New Perspective**__

This is a great site to find out about sampling, sharing and licensing laws. It's a good site to safely and legally share many types of documents. The site offers sharing opportunities and licensing information from all over the world.

from Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/about/sampling

Kirsten

Common Sense for Teacher, Faculty and Staff

April 16, 2007

School districts and supervisory unions in Vermont all need to have Acceptable Use Polices in place. Administrators, faculty and staff generally need to read through their district’s Acceptable Use Policy and sign-off on it.

Students, parents and guardians need to read through the student version of the Acceptable Use Policy sign-off and turn a hardcopy to the school. This is placed on file at Central Office.

Some schools try to curtail copyright issues and plagiarism having students turn in a “electronic copy” of their work. Some schools have software that “reads” and checks student work for authenticity. The work is given a score for original work. Passages that are not properly cited are flagged and a report is generated that details information about that specific piece of student work.

Schools that have similar software tools would be more likely to cut down on plagiarism and copyright issues in their school.