Copyright law grants rights to authors and creators and promotes the “progress science and useful arts.” The copyright law also includes exemptions to copyright that limit the rights of copyright holders. One of these exemptions is the Fair Use Doctrine. Fair use encourages socially beneficial uses of copyrighted works, quoting from copyrighted work, providing multiple copies, and creating new knowledge based on previously published knowledge.
Under Fair Use, unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted materials is allowed for purposed of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research. It duplicating or changing a product is to fall within the bounds of fair use, these four factors must be considered:
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such uses is of commercial nature, or is for nonprofit educational purpose;
The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
"Copyright Kids" is another great resource for learning and quizzing yourself about copyright.
In creating a multimedia project the following guidelines are suggested as long as the derivative work properly cites the copied material.
Motion media. A single copy of up to three minutes or 10% of the whole, whichever is less
Prose. Up to 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less.
Poetry. Up to 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less of a long poem and only three excerpts from one poet or five works by different poets in an anthology are permitted.
Short poems of less than 250 words may be used in their entirety and only three poems per poet or five poems from one anthology may be copied.
Music. Up to 10% of a single musical composition in sound or multimedia form, but not more than 30 seconds.
Illustrations. No more than five images from a single artist or photographer. If images are taken from a single work, not more than 10% or 15 images may be used.
If you are still in doubt about copyright and whether you are acting under the guidelines of Fair Use, please see the outline and resources below.
A single copy may be made of any of the following by or for a teacher at his or her individual request for his or her scholarly research or use in teaching or preparation to teach a class.
a chapter from a book
an article from a periodical or newspaper
a short story, short essay or short poem, whether or not from a collective work
a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper
Multiple copies (not to exceed in any event more than one copy per pupil in a course) may be made by or for the teacher giving the course for classroom use or discussion; provided that:
the copying meets the tests of brevity and spontaneity as defined below
the copying meets the cumulative effect test as defined below
each copy includes a notice of copyright (e.g. Copyright 2001, Stenhouse Publishing Co.)
Poetry
A complete poem if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages or, for a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words.
Either a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or (b) an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, but in any event a minimum of 500 words.
Each of the numerical limits stated above may be expanded to permit the completion of an unfinished line of a poem or of an unfinished prose paragraph.
Illustrations
One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture per book or per periodical issue.
“Special” works
Certain works in poetry, prose or in “poetic prose” which often combine language with illustrations and which are intended sometimes for children and at other times for a more general audience fall short of 2,500 words in their entirety may not be reproduced in their entirety; however, an excerpt comprising not more than two of the published pages of such special work and containing no more than 10% of the words found in the text thereof, may be reproduced.