Copyright

Copyright for Journalism Students

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, much less an expert in copyright law. This presenta?on draws extensively

from the Student Press Law Center’s “Student Media Guide to Copyright Law”

hHp://www.splc.org/knowyourrights/legalresearch.asp?id=32

What do you think? •  Can Drake Magazine download images of book jackets from Amazon to include with book reviews?

•  Can the Times‐Delphic download an image of a presiden?al candidate to accompany a news ar?cle?

•  Can you use a company’s logo in your J70 blog post? •  Can Think online use a New York Times photograph? •  Can Duin create a parody of Newsweek called Newsweak?

•  Can DrakeMag.com post music videos on its site? •  Can Urban Plains create an ad for its site that includes a picture of an iPad?

What is copyright?

•  Authors, ar?sts have exclusive right to benefit from their crea?ons

•  Protected by federal law

Source: Student Press Law Center “Student Media Guide to Copyright Law”


What does copyright protect?

•  It protects: – Literary works – Sound recordings – Works of art – Musical composi?ons – Computer programs – Architectural works

•  Work must be original Source: Student Press Law Center

“Student Media Guide to Copyright Law” hHp://www.splc.org/knowyourrights/legalresearch.asp?id=32

What can’t be copyrighted?

•  Slogans (“Just do it”) •  Titles •  Names •  Words and short phrases •  Instruc?ons •  Familiar symbols, designs •  Facts, ideas •  U.S. government work



Who owns a copyright?

•  Generally, the creator of the work •  “Work‐for‐hire” excep?on



How long does a copyright last?

•  Anything created before 1923 is in “public domain”

•  For works created aaer 1973, copyright expires 95 years aaer publica?on or 120 years from crea?on, whichever comes first

Work is protected by copyright as soon as it’s created



Work is protected by copyright as soon as it’s created

How long does a copyright last?

•  Work is protected by copyright as soon as it’s created •  It doesn’t need the © 2006 by ______ •  It doesn’t need to say “copyright by ___” or “all rights reserved”



In other words…

… most everything you’ll want to use is copyrighted.



Geeng permission

Simply credi3ng the ar3st or creator is not enough!



Simply credi3ng the ar3st or creator is not enough!

Got it? Simply credi3ng the ar3st or creator

is not enough!

Geeng permission

•  Simply credi3ng the ar3st or creator is not enough! – Don’t use “courtesy of” if the courtesy hasn’t been formally extended to you

•  Explicit permission is required. •  Start early (months ahead, not days or weeks)

The Big Excep?on: FAIR USE

“Fair use” allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission.

FAIR USE is a gray area

In plain English, please?

You may use limited amounts of copyrighted works

for news repor3ng and educa3on

so long as its use does not destroy the commercial value of the work.



No, really, this is important*. * It’ll be on the test

In plain English, please?

You may use limited amounts of copyrighted works

for news repor3ng and educa3on

so long as its use does not destroy the commercial value of the work.



In legalese: Fair use: Four factors

1.  Purpose, character of use. –  News repor?ng, teaching, cri?cism, commentary

likely to be “fair use”

2.  Nature of copyrighted work. –  Factual material (maps, biographies) more likely

to be “fair use” than highly crea?ve, original works (cartoons, novels)



Fair use? Four factors

3.  How much of original work is used –  You may use no more than what is necessary

4.  Effect of use on commercial value of copyrighted work –  Most important factor –  If consumers are likely to buy the use as

subs?tute for original, not fair use



What about slogans, symbols?

•  Intellectual Property Law: – Copyright protects crea?ve works. – Patents protect inven?ons. – Trademarks protect symbols, slogans that iden?fy businesses to their customers.

•  It’s OK to use trademarks when repor?ng about a company

What about the Web?

•  Yes, copyright law applies to the Web! –  Images, documents, source code, music, podcasts, ar?cles, videos, etc.



Online publishing guidelines

•  Ignorance of copyright law is no excuse •  What is the purpose of your site? – News, educa?on = fair use – Other purposes ≠ fair use

•  Publish excerpts, not en?re ar?cles – Quote briefly, properly aHribute, link to source

•  Copyright is violated by using informa?on, not by charging for it

•  Freeware does not belong to you Source: Student Press Law Center

“Student Media Guide to Copyright Law” hHp://www.splc.org/knowyourrights/legalresearch.asp?id=32

Online publishing guidelines

•  Assume everything is copyrighted •  Give proper credit – Photographs, ar?cles, etc. – Link to original source – When appropriate, let creator know you used it; thank him/her

•  To protect your own content: – © 2011 by [your name]



Where can I find images I can use?

•  Free stock, or royalty‐free, photos – Stock.xchng –  istockphoto.com – Digital Image Magazine’s “25 Free Stock Photo Sites”

– Crea3ve Commons

Crea?ve Commons

•  “Crea?ve Commons is a nonprofit corpora?on dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.”

The licenses ABribu3on by: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and deriva?ve works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request.

The licenses Share alike: You allow others to distribute deriva?ve works only under a license iden?cal to the license that governs your work.

The licenses Non‐commercial: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work — and deriva?ve works based upon it — but for non‐commercial purposes only.

The licenses No deriva3ve works: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verba?m copies of your work, not deriva?ve works based upon it.

Copyright

Education

Transcript of Copyright