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Copyright laws for students

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free

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee

I've glad to have found this board. My hope is that I can get a response to a situation I have at a college where I teach graphic design.

My students create many things including brochures and magazine spreads. If photos or text is needed, I suggest students try to take/write their own when possible. Sometimes, the subject matter is too unusual or difficult to shoot on their own or find for purchase. Most of them don't feel they have the ability to write their own text.

My students have told me other teachers have allowed them to grab photos/text from the web to incorporate into their projects since it is for educational purposes and non-commercial. I feel it should not be allowed even when the student credits the source without getting permission from the photographer/writer first.

Even though copyright law allows fair use for "scholastic" purposes, many of these students graduate and enter the professional world showing these projects on the web via portfolio sites. At that point, they are professionals.

My goal is to establish a policy for the department based on my research. I've searched the web for answers to no avail. Opinions are appreciated.
 


FlyingRon

Senior Member
Students aren't given any more latitude to steal stuff than anybody else.
While some non-commercial, educational use is covered under fair use, it's not carte blanche to go on a web spree stealing things. Laziness is not a criteria.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

It would be one thing if they were using it in a scholarly paper or review or to illustrate a point, but to just include it in their own supposedly original art work would seem to be dubious.
 

free

Junior Member
I agree.

Here's the text from Section 107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106a, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a 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.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
-----

I don't see how this could be interpreted as allowing a student to use another's work as part of their own even when credit is given.
 

quincy

Senior Member
I agree with FlyingRon that fair use is not permission to use another's copyrighted work. It is an affirmative defense to copyright infringement.

Whether a use is a fair one or not is ultimately decided by a court, when a copyright holder takes exception to the use of his/her material and sues for infringement.

The Copyright Act does allow certain uses without a user needing to get permission first - and when copyrighted works are used for teaching purposes, or as part of a research or scholarship project, or for news reporting purposes, or in a critique or review or criticism of a work, these will often be looked at by a court as a fair use of the material. But even these uses have limits (as noted in free's post above*).

The Copyright Office advises that the four fair use factors I have listed above are only guidelines and each case that comes before a court will be decided on the facts presented in each case. The Copyright Office also advises that the wisest course of action for anyone who is intending to use rights-protected material is to get permission first from the rights holder. That is the only way to ensure a use will not result in a lawsuit.

*edit: just saw your post, free. I guess I sort of repeated it all. :)
 
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free

Junior Member
For me, this part is the kicker:

"The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission."
 

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