Copyright essentials for digital distance educators   This is a brief introduction to the main principles in copyright law as it applies to the Internet, meant to aid faculty and staff involved in remote instruction/distance learning. In general, copyright law has not changed significantly in the digital age. The basics, covered on this page, remain the same as before the proliferation of computers and the Internet. For details and the full text of the law, follow the hyperlinks on this page, including the list of resources at the end. Some of the documents linked to on this page are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To view and print these you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for free from Adobe Systems Incorporated.  Current copyright law The U.S. Copyright Act, Title 17 in the United States Code, was signed into law on July 30, 1947, and revised in its entirety on October 19, 1976. Here you will find definitions and detailed language on the scope of the law, copyright ownership and transfer, notice and registration, infringement and remedies, etc. Most of the information on this page is straight out of Title 17. Title 17 was amended by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act on October 28, 1998. This act adds a chapter to the 11 pre-existing chapters in Title 17, and is an attempt to update copyright law for the digital age of computers and the Internet. There main thing you as an individual faculty or staff member need to know about the DMCA is that it lets "service providers" (a term that likely includes colleges and universities, though this is not yet court-tested) take certain steps to limit their own liability for copyright-infringing content on their servers. Bluntly, this means that you should not assume that the institution will take the hit for your copyright infringement. You are personally liable. All copyright law is federal law, and thus the same in all US locations. Furthermore, in accordance with international treaties signed by most nations, materials originating outside the United States generally enjoy the same copyright protection as those created in this country.   What "copyright" actually means "Copyright" means that the original creator of a work has exclusive rights, within certain limitations (such as "fair use") specified in Title 17, to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords. to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work. to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly. in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. Title 17 defines "copies" as "material objects, other than phonorecords, in which a work is fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the work can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device." This includes digital devices such as computers and computer screens. A "derivative work" is "a work based upon one or more preexisting works." This includes digitally manipulated images. It is not a defense against copyright infringement charges to claim that your modifications has made the original work unrecognizable. If the original image was not your creation, you have violated the law. To "display" a work means "to show a copy of it, either directly or by means of a film, slide, television image, or any other device or process or, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show individual images nonsequentially." This includes the use of computer networks and screens. To perform or display a work "publicly" means - (1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or (2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times. For more definitions, refer to Section 101 of Title 17. For details on exclusive rights and limitations of such, see Chapter 1, Sections 106-121.   What may be copyrighted Copyright can be obtained for "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device." According to Section 102 of Title 17, works of authorship include the following categories: Literary works. Musical works, including any accompanying words. Dramatic works, including any accompanying music. Pantomimes and choreographic works. Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works. Motion pictures and other audiovisual works. Sound recordings. Architectural works. A work is "original" if it was created by the author, and not copied or modified from another work. The amount of creativity demanded is low, however, so the work does not have to be very different, or even particularly interesting, to be original. The important distinction the law makes here is that between an expression and the idea behind that expression.. What can be copyrighted is the tangible expression of an idea, but not the idea itself. Therefore, book number eighty-three on the causes of the Civil War, while attributing the war to exactly the same causes as the other eighty-two, can still be copyrighted as long as it doesn't express those ideas in a manner "substantially similar" to any of the previous works. But exactly what constitutes substantial similarity is of course very difficult to define, and the law doesn't even attempt to. This is left to the judicial system to decide in an infringement lawsuit. A work is "fixed" when it is made "sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration." Such action automatically copyrights a work. If its author puts it on paper, speaks it into a tape recorder, or records it in any other manner that may be understood by another person, that expression, and the right to modify it, belongs to the author. Thus, anything you come across on the World Wide Web or any other part of the Internet is technically copyrighted, and may not be reproduced or modified by anyone other than its author. This includes electronic mail messages posted to discussion lists or bulletin boards. The work does not have to be published to be copyright protected, and, if created on or after March 1, 1989, it does not have to have a copyright notice. The rules for copyright notice are somewhat complicated, and beyond the scope of this article, but as a general rule you should not assume that you are free to use a work without such notice. For more specific information on the rules for copyright notice, refer to Chapter 4 of Title 17. Facts, however, may not be copyrighted. If you wish to copy facts from a copyrighted work, you are free to do so. Government works can not be copyrighted either.   Duration of copyright A work more than 75 years old is in the public domain, and thus may be used by anyone. For a work that had been copyrighted before January 1, 1978, the first term of copyright is 28 years. If the copyright on this work is renewed, the new term lasts until 75 years after the original copyright was secured. For all other works, copyright endures for the life of the author, plus a term of 50 years. Remember, copyright does not end, and does not weaken, with the death of the original author. For details on the duration of copyright, see Chapter 3 of Title 17.   Fair use Among the limitations on the original author's exclusive rights, and that most relevant to educators, is the doctrine of "fair use." Section 107 in Title 17 states that reproduction "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright." This is not a license to freely copy and use as much of a copyrighted work as you want to, however. Section 107 sets out four factors to be used in determining whether the use is fair: (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and  (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. Use for non-commercial purposes such as teaching has generally been considered fair. The general rule of thumb has been simply not to overdo it. If you are putting together a course packet, for example, copy only passages or images relevant to what you want to illustrate, and keep your number of examples within common-sense limits. However, the "fair use" doctrine came into being in a time before computers and network technology made remote instruction convenient and commonplace. There are a number of new concerns for copyright owners in our digital age, most of which revolve around potential harm to their markets. And while few wish to put an end to the practice of fair use in education, digital technology has forced more attention to the issue. As of June 1999, Congress had set no hard and fast rules for fair use in a digital environment, although they are working on it (see "The Future of Copyright Law" below). In the meantime, the Consortium of College and University Media Centers has set forth some very specific fair use guidelines for educational multimedia. Note that although these rules have been adopted by the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, they are not legally binding, but rather an agreed upon interpretation of the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act by the overwhelming majority of institutions and organizations affected by educational multimedia. If you are not sure whether your use is fair or not, obtaining permission or a license to use the material (see below) is the safest course.   Obtaining permissions and licenses If your intended use of copyrighted material is not within the limits of fair use, you need to get permission or a license from the copyright owner. The copyright owner may be the original author, or it may be another person or entity having obtained the rights to the work. For limited academic use, you may be able to get permission to use the work free of charge, but it is quite possible that you will be charged a fee for your use. If you are a Michigan State University faculty or staff member, the MSU Libraries Digital Sources Center has a copyright page with forms and other resources to facilitate the permissions process. If you are unable to contact the copyright owner, you may consider using copyright licensing agencies. The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) is a good place to start for general copyright licensing. The Authors Registry deals with licensing of book and magazine copying. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), and Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), deal mostly with music.   Infringement penalties and remedies If a copyright owner thinks your use of her/his material falls beyond fair use, he/she may sue you for copyright infringement. This would be a civil suit (copyright infringement in a nonprofit educational context very seldom reaches a level where criminal charges would be in order, though this is possible), and, if the suit was successful, the copyright owner could be entitled to damages. Such damages would usually be based on profits made from the infringement, which under normal circumstances for nonprofit educational uses would be nil. (However, damages may also be assessed on the basis of a diminished reputation, etc., so it is not safe to assume that just because your infringement did not, and was not meant to, create profit for you, you would not be liable for damages.) Thus, the main question courts have to deal with in infringement suits in a nonprofit educational context is whether the infringement was willful or not. If your infringement was willful, you might still be liable for statutory damages in the amount of anywhere from $500 to $100,000, depending on the seriousness of your offense. But if you believed, and had reasonable grounds for believing, that your use was fair use, and you were an employee or agent of a nonprofit educational institution, acting within the scope of your employment, the law instructs the courts to remit statutory damages. For details on copyright infringement and remedies, see Chapter 5 of Title 17.   The future of copyright law The future of copyright law in the digital age is still very much in question. In addition to the specific implementations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Congress in the act charged the U.S. Copyright Office with the responsibility to study the issue of application of copyright law to distance education using digital technologies. The result, the Copyright Office's "Report on Copyright and Digital Distance Education," was released in May 1999. Among other things, the report discusses the concerns of copyright owners versus the concerns of educators. According to the report, copyright owners "are concerned that a broadening of the exemption would result in the loss of opportunities to license works for use in digital distance education -- a new, growing, and potentially lucrative market." Another major concern of copyright owners, the report states, is the ease with which multiple copies of a work can be disseminated to acquaintances around the world by students once they obtain access to such works. Educational groups, on the other hand, are concerned about "discrimination against remote site students in their educational experience vis-à-vis on-site students." In addition, they want to "avoid discrimination against new technologies vis-à-vis old ones; and to avoid the difficulties in licensing that many describe having experienced." As the report explains, many of the concerns on all sides stem from the inability to depend on the effective functioning of technological protections and licensing mechanisms, for there is little disagreement that use of copyrighted materials as it is intended by distance educators generally falls under "fair use" exemptions already in existence. The future of copyright law as it applies to the digital environment thus seems to be contingent on the development of such technological protections and licensing mechanisms, and on the cooperation of all sides in the implementation of them. For as the report none-too-subtly points out, "[a]s a fundamental premise, the Copyright Office believes that emerging markets should be permitted to develop with minimal government regulation." In short, the burden is on distance educators to be vigilant about protecting access to copyrighted materials. The sloppier they are with such protection, the less likely they will be to retain the relatively broad allowances currently applied to nonprofit educational activities under the "fair use" principle.   Resources on the World Wide Web Government and administrative sites The United States Copyright Office has PDF files explaining both general copyright rules and as it relates to online works. World Intellectual Property Organization. United Nations agency specializing in international copyright issues and regulations.   Other useful links The U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17 in the U.S. Code) from The Legal Information Institute at Cornell University. Frames approach provides easy overview and navigability for those already familiar with the law, but looking for details. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act from Educause, a practitioner's journal about managing and using information resources on college and university campuses. Links to both full text (59 pages) and a summarized version of the act, as well as an article on "What Colleges and Universities Need to Know about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act." The U.S. Copyright Office Report on Copyright and Digital Distance Education. Released in May, 1999, as the result of a six-month long study by the U.S. Copyright Office, this is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of copyright issues in digital distance education. Files are in PDF format, and require the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Educational Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines from the Consortium of College and University Media Centers. Adopted by the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, these rules are not legally binding, but rather an agreed upon interpretation of the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act by the overwhelming majority of institutions and organizations affected by educational multimedia.  An intellectual property law primer for multimedia and web developers  from the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF). Written primarily for commercial multimedia developers, but provides a very good introduction to general copyright issues and laws. Copyright And Fair Use from Stanford University Libraries. Has links to the pertinent legislation, plus a fine collection of case law. The ILTguide to Copyright. This page provides information of interest to educators and others relating to copyright, including access to Copyright Resources for Education Online (CREDO), a database of original material developed by ILT for educators providing important basic information and useful tips on how to protect one's work and how to comply with the existing rules for the use others' copyrighted material. Legal Issues at the University of Virginia's Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. A page of links to sites dealing with copyright in an electronic environment. The UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy. Focuses on the study of cyberspace law as a separate discipline. Good bibliography and extensive repository of case law.