Copyright Clarity

Fair Use for Digital Learning

Renee Hobbs
Kristin Hokanson
Spiro Bolos
About the Presenters

Renee Hobbs is a professor at Temple

University’s School of Communications and
Theater, where she founded the Media
Education Lab.

Kristin Hokanson works at Upper Merion High

School in King of Prussia PA.

Spiro Bolos is a social studies teacher at New

Trier High School in Winnetka IL.
 Reflects the “best
practices” of educators
who use copyrighted
material to build
critical thinking and
communication skills

Supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation

 How do teachers cope?
See no Evil Close the Door Hyper-Comply
“To promote the Progress of
Science and the useful Arts,
by securing for limited Times
to Authors & Inventors the
exclusive Right to their
respective Writing and
Discoveries” Article 1 Section 8
U.S. Constitution
Copyright Confusion
 Copyright Law Balances Rights of
Owners and Users

OWNERS USERS
It’s time to
replace old
knowledge

with
accurate
knowledge
 EVERYTHING
IS COPYRIGHTED
Creative Control
The Copyright Act grants five rights to a copyright
owner:

1. the right to reproduce the copyrighted work;

2. the right to prepare derivative works based

upon the work;

3. the right to distribute copies of the work to the

public;

4. the right to perform the copyrighted work

publicly; and

5. the right to display the copyrighted work

publicly.
LOVE HATE

Copyright law enables people to control

the creative works
they produce
 LOVE HATE

Violating Copyright Can Be Expensive

The Copyright holder may receive statutory damages for all infringements
involved in the action… not less than $750 or more than $30,000 as the
court considers just. [...]
When infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may
increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than
$150,000."
 EVERYTHING
IS COPYRIGHTED
…BUT THERE ARE
EXEMPTIONS
The Doctrine of Fair Use

--Section 107
Copyright Act of 1976
The Doctrine of Fair Use
Criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching, scholarship,
research

… but also many forms of

creative work that advance and
spread innovation
The Doctrine of Fair Use
Criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching, scholarship,
research

… but also many forms of

creative work that advance and
spread innovation

Fair use of copyrighted materials is Fair use prevents

allowed when the benefits to society copyright law from becoming
outweigh the private costs a form of
to the copyright holder private censorship
The effective use of copyrighted
materials enhances the teaching
and learning process.
 USERS RIGHTS
http://copyrightconfusion.wikispaces.com/Videos
 Is this Use of Copyrighted Materials
a Fair Use?

•Did the unlicensed use “ transform” the material taken from the
copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose than that of the
original, or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the
original? 

•Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the
nature of the copyrighted work and of the use?
Bill Graham Archives vs. Dorling Kindersley, Ltd.
(2006)
An Example of Transformative Use

 The purpose of the original: to

generate publicity for a concert
An Example of Transformative Use

 The purpose of the original: to

generate publicity for a concert

The purpose of the new work: to

document and illustrate the
concert events in historical
context
Exercising
Your Fair Use
Reasoning
Involves
Critical
Thinking
Misconceptions
Educational Fair Use Guidelines
 Guidelines are confusing
AND they are NOT the Law!
The documents created by these negotiated
agreements give them “the appearance of
positive law. These qualities are merely illusory,
and consequently the guidelines have had a
seriously detrimental effect. They interfere with
an actual understanding of the law and erode
confidence in the law as created by Congress
and the courts”
                                                                                      --Kenneth Crews, 2001
 Rigid adherence to
“Educational Use Guidelines”
may interfere with
students’ ability to think
critically about the
copyrighted materials they are using
 Requiring students to use
ONLY Creative Commons
content does not
require students to think
critically about the
media and materials they
are using
 PLAGIARISM COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Using other people’s A legal violation of the rights of

creative work by passing it authors, who can control access to their
off as your own creative work

ATTTRIBUTION Citing
Your Sources
 PLAGIARISM COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Using other people’s A legal violation of the rights of

creative work by passing it authors, who can control access to their
off as your own creative work

ATTTRIBUTION Citing FINES & OTHER

Your Sources PENALTIES
 “Citing Your Sources”
does not protect from copyright
liability
Licensing and Permissions
BE AWARE:
Licensing
Trumps
Fair Use
What things might not qualify for the
fair use exemption?

•Library movie night

•Using copyrighted images for
promotional/marketing purposes
 Helping teachers cope

See no Evil Close the Door Hyper-Comply

See no Evil Close the Door Hyper-Comply
Codes of Best Practice
http://mediaeducationlab.com/video-overview
Educators can:
1.make copies of newspaper articles, TV shows, and
other                                copyrighted works and use them and
keep them for educational use
2.create curriculum materials and scholarship with copyrighted
materials embedded
3.share, sell and distribute curriculum materials with
copyrighted materials embedded
Learners can:
4.use copyrighted works in creating new material
5.distribute their works digitally if they meet the                               
transformativeness standard
 Context & Situation
A team of elementary educators
shows the Disney movie The Little
Mermaid to three classes of Grade
3 students on the day before winter
break in the school auditorium.
 Practice exercising your
Fair Use Muscles...

•Did the unlicensed use “ transform” the material taken from the
copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose than that of the
original, or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the
original? 

•Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the
nature of the copyrighted work and of the use?
 Choices for the User
• Claim fair use
• Ask permission
• Buy a license
• Use public domain, royalty-free or Creative
Commons licensed content

• Don’t use it
Other Resources
http://mediaeducationlab.com
Video Case Studies
Elementary School Case Study:
P.S. 124 The Silas B. Dutcher School
Brooklyn, NY

High School Case Study:

Upper Merion Area High School
King of Prussia, PA

College Case Study:

Project Look Sharp at Ithaca College
Ithaca, NY
Contact Us
Renee Hobbs
Temple University
Email: renee.hobbs@temple.edu
Twitter: reneehobbs

Kristin Hokanson
Upper Merion High School
Email: khokanson@gmail.com

Spiro Bolos
New Trier High School
Email: boloss@newtrier.k12.il.us