Copyright Law & Fair

Use for Educators

September 19th,
2022

“Educators like What is copyright?

everyone else in
If you type “copyright” in your search engine, the definition that will most likely
society, are subject appear is “the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print,
to copyright laws.” publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to
authorize others to do the same.” With that being stated, copyright is a form of
legal protection to the creators of material. According to the U.S. Copyright
-Brian Farkas Office, copyright protects original works of authorship for example, poetry,
movies, or architecture. However, copyright does not protect facts, ideas, or
systems although it may protect the way these are expressed. Why is this
important? As educators we have the necessity and rely on multiple materials
from different sources to be able to teach our students. As educators, we are also
subject to infringement of copyright (violating copyright laws), therefore we must
know what it is and how we are protected as well.
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“It’s better to use What is Fair Use?

fair means and fail,
Fair Use
than foul and Fait use in the U.S. copyright law, is the doctrine that brief excerpts of copyright
conquer”-unknown material may, under certain circumstances, be quoted verbatim for purposes such
as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research, without the need for
permission from or payment to the copyright holder. Teaching is under that
definition, but this does not necessarily mean that we as educators can use any
materials, we find useful right away. Just because an image, or movie you are
showing is for an educational purpose it does not mean you are protected and
don’t have to worry about copyright. For fair use to apply, the copyrighted
material must be used:
For performances or displays
As part of face-to-face teaching activities
In a non-profit educational institution
In a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction
Using a lawful copy of the works

How can we protect ourselves from infringement of

copyright?
• Cite your work and resources: Always give credit to who it belongs to and
where its due.
• Use public domains: Not all work is subject to copyright, in the public
domain there are a lot of creative works that can be used without any
copyright infringement.
• License: there are resources or work that are covered by a license or
contract that allows classroom use.
• Fair use: if the work meets the criteria for fair use in the classroom
• If in doubt or unsure: ASK and RESEARCH before using the material.
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Jacqueline Guereque Sources: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/does-copyright-law-apply-to-

jguereque@miners.utep.edu educators.html - :~:text=Educators, like everyone else in society, are subject,immune simply
City, ST ZIP Code because they happen to be teachers.

https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html