Understanding Copyright

What is it?

Copyright is the protection of original works by the U.S. Constitution. It covers music, poems, stories, book, movies and computer software that are published and unpublished. It does not cover ideas but does cover the products that emerge from the ideas.


How long does it last?

A work is copyrighted for the author’s lifetime whether it is published or unpublished plus seventy years. If it is “work for hire” piece, the copyright is ninety-five years from publication or one-hundred and twenty years from its creation date.


What is Fair Use?

Fair use allows students and teachers to use a specific percentage of copyrighted material in the course of teaching and learning. The fair use percentages are below.

· 30 seconds or 10% of a song, movie, or t.v. clip can be used.

· Usage should not affect the original works monetary value.

The use of work created by authors, songwriters, artists and software developers are not to be used for entertainment purposes due to the commercial nature of the presentation. This includes showing movies, playing music for school dances and other extracurricular activities. The school district or school would need to purchase a license through Movie Licensing USA to show Netflix or Disney Movies, for example.

To request permission to use over the allowed percentage of a copyrighted work for educational purposes, contact the creator and publisher. When requesting use of material, be specific. Use specific titles, authors, page numbers and publishing dates and/ or editions. Changing the format of the text from print to digital or recording a book or text auditorily does not remove the original copyright.


What are Creative Commons?

Creative Commons allow creators to decide how to share their work. Users must give credit to the creator by citing/ linking to the license. Creative Commons licenses must follow U.S. copyright law.