Reflections on Copyright and Fair Use
Copyright ©
Definition: Copyright is the right that the creator of a work has to protect their work for a limited period of time.
Rights:Copyright holders have the right sell, redistribute,and publicly perform and display their works (Copyright Basics, n.d.).
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| Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons |
Terms: Copyright holders have rights to their work for a certain period of time, and after that time those works become part of the public domain. Works in the public domain include United States works from earlier than 1923 and works earlier than 1978 with no copyright notice. Most government works as well as works that have exceeded 70 years after the death of the copyright holder are also part of the public domain (Copyright Basics, n.d.).
Copyright laws can be very complicated and they are still developing. Some of these developments result from new loop hools and interesting trial outcomes. One example is the picture shown to the right. Since the monkey took its own picture, the image was determined not to be subject to copyright and now falls under public domain.
Fair use
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| Image retrieved from Flickr |
Definition:
According to Stanford University Libraries "Fair use is the right to use portions of copyrighted materials without permission for purposes of education, commentary, or parody." (Stim, Rich, n.d.).
Fair use protects the rights of the public by ensuring that they are free to express their thoughts and ideas on works as well as have access to facts. Fair use allows people to transform works and add new meaning and expression to them. A Wierd Al Yankovic song parody, a posting of a work for comparison or criticism, and the use of a portion of a work for educational purposes are all examples of fair use.
The Four Factors of Fair Use
Since fair use is situational, the four factors of fair use are helpful in determining whether or not it is legal to use a copyrighted work without permission. The four factors of fair use are
- The Purpose and Character for which the work will be used
- The Nature of the Work to be used
- The Amount of Work that will be used
- The Market Effect the use will have on the work
If the work will be used for education, not for profit, for personal use, or in a small, insignificant quantity, there's a good chance that it falls under fair use (Copyright Basics, n.d.).
Deciding If a Situation is Fair Use
Find Reliable Information
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| Image retrieved from Flickr |
After getting mixed messages by reading blogs and discussions forums, I realized the importance of relying only on credible sources for information on copyright and fair use. For example, a blog site that I read explained that only in-class teaching qualified as an education exception and that online classes would not fall under fair use. I found this alarming because I have been sharing links in online courses for a long time. After reading information at https://kb.iu.edu/d/arit, I discovered that online courses could be determined to fall under educational fair use, but that it is safer to link to articles rather than copy/pasting because copyright laws have not caught up with online teaching (Posting Copyrighted Materials Online, 2017). I found that the best websites for finding information on copyright and fair use were .edu and .gov websites.
Evaluate the Risks and Consider the Four Factors
Through reading Purdue University and looking up fair use scenarios I also learned the importance of making sure that more than two out of the four fair use factors are covered before determining that the use of a work is fair. I gave an example in the class discussion forum about a situation where only having two of four factors covered could get someone into trouble. If it is too difficult to determine whether something is fair use or not using the four factors, it is safest to use public domain media or ask for permission.
Real Life Applications
For this class, the entirety of my academic career, and in future careers I will be encountering situations where I need to provide photos, videos, and examples from articles, books and websites. It will be my responsibility to ensure that any photos, videos and articles I use are consistent with fair use, and that nothing I use violates copyright laws. One such situation I faced was in a Website Development class I took. In that class I had to write the HTML and CSS for my own website on environmental issues and it had to be complete with photos, videos, and text content. When making this website I was sure to use only public domain information, videos and photos to avoid any unnecessary issues. At http://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=310751&p=2072820 links are provided to great public domain video and audio websites. Here's an example clip from UnRoyalty.com
What I'm Still Foggy About
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| Image retrieved from Pixabay |
While it is clear to me how copyright laws work and what constitutes copyright infringement, I still have many questions about copyright in an online setting and the specific rules and laws surrounding copyright ownership and transformative works.
For example, in my Website Development class I learned to copyright my webpages. If I create a website,get licensing agreements to use someone else's work,and I've referenced many articles for the content on my website do I own my website's code and design or or do I own the collective content in it?
Another thing I don't understand is the selling and gifting of copyrights. If someone decides to give their copyright to someone else does the copyright apply to 70 years after the new owners death,and could the selling and gifting of a copyright potentially go on forever? What are the limitations?
I also don't fully understand the copyright laws surrounding parodies. While I'm aware that parodies fall under fair use, is it possible for someone like Wierd Al Yankovic to copyright his parodies?
Works Cited
“Posting Copyrighted Materials Online.” Indiana University, 17 Jan. 2017, kb.iu.edu/d/arit. Accessed 16 Sept. 2017.
Stim, Rich. “Copyright and Fair Use.” Stanford University Libraries,
fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/academic-and-educational-permissions/non-coursepack/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2017.
“Copyright Basics.” Purdue University, www.lib.purdue.edu/uco/CopyrightBasics/basics.html#1. Accessed 16 Sept. 2017.
“Copyright Basics.” Purdue University, www.lib.purdue.edu/uco/CopyrightBasics/fair_use.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 2017.
One thing I noticed about
media literacy is that it increases with time, given that a person continues using
and interacting with media. An example is social media. If one hadn’t been
involved in social media since the early 2000’s he might wonder what had
happened to all of his friends on Myspace and would likely have no idea what a
meme was. This may sound funny, but such a lack of media literacy would likely
make it extremely difficult for a person to interact with others in the modern
world. The same is true of computer software such as Microsoft Office,
anti-malware, and image editors like Adobe Photoshop. If you don’t keep them up
to date and learn about similar programs, they are no longer relevant and likely
will not function properly on certain platforms.
That’s when I got lucky and came across Picozu. This web app
can be used both on a computer and a smartphone and allows for free advanced
editing that for the most part, you could only find in Photoshop or Gimp.
Picozu allows you to create unique images with advanced layering features
and I found it quite easy to combine three images into one. By adjusting the
lighting and contrast, and adding text with the app I was actually able to make the
images look like they belonged together and create a powerful message. I found this app far easier to use than Photoshop, and I was relieved at how simple the whole thing wound up being. The
message I created was inspired by the proverb “When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river
poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money.” I made sure to
give the image a bleak, sad look and worded the text as a question so it would
feel like a call to action. Here is the image I created:
