Pursuant to United States Code, Title 17, Section 110(1), members of the Northeast Iowa Community College community may publicly display and perform the copyrighted works of other people (this includes entire works) during face-to-face teaching activities, provided you are using a legitimate copy of the work, i.e. in this case a legitimate copy of the video (which, in general, does not include one that you have videotaped yourself from a broadcast). Section 110(1) does not authorize the copying of the copyrighted work from the original medium onto another medium though, which would be necessary in utilizing these materials in an online course.

As stated in the policy, United States Code, Title 17, Section 107 sets forth a four-pronged test to determine whether an intended use of a copyrighted work is fair (i.e. the Fair Use Doctrine). Because this test is highly subjective, it is difficult to know whether your application of the test will stand up in a court of law. 

The Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia apply here because, as stated in these guidelines, educators may perform and display their own educational multimedia projects for remote instruction to students enrolled in curriculum-based courses and located at remote sites, provided over the educational institution’s secure electronic network in real-time, or for after class review or directed self-study, provided there are technological limitations on access to the network and educational multimedia project (such as password or PIN) and provided further than the technology prevents the making of copies of copyrighted material.

According to Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia, motion media of up to 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less, in the aggregate of a copyrighted motion media work may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated.

Please note that compliance with the TEACH Act, i.e. United States Code, Title 17, Section 110(2) is VOLUNTARY. However, if one chooses to rely on the TEACH Act, one MUST follow the very stringent requirements, including extremely onerous technical requirements of the TEACH Act. Due to the extremely restrictive nature of the TEACH Act, NICC prefers to rely on the traditional fair use principles instead.  

The reproduction or incorporation of photographs and illustrations is more difficult to define with regard to fair use because fair use usually precludes the use of an entire work.

In accordance with the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia, a photograph or illustration may be used in its entirety, but no more than 5 images by an artist or photographer may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated as part of an educational multimedia project. When using photographs and illustrations from a published collective work, not more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated as part of an educational multimedia project.

Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less, from a copyrighted database or data table may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated as part of an educational multimedia project. 

Please note that just because something is found on the internet does not mean it is not copyright protected. Educators and students should exercise caution in using material downloaded from the internet, because there is a mix of works protected by copyright and works in the public domain on the network. Some copyrighted works may have been posted to the internet without authorization of the copyright holder. Anytime an entire work is copied, the fair use defense will be difficult to apply. Crediting the source does not change the fact that this will likely be regarded as copyright infringement. Please keep in mind that crediting the source is appropriate; however, the underlying use needs to be justified first, whether the use relies on the permission of the copyright owner or on fair use. If the underlying use is infringing, crediting the source does not rectify this.

Yes, general Fair Use applies to the online environment as well. As stated above, compliance with the TEACH Act, i.e. United States Code, Title 17, Section 110(2) is VOLUNTARY. However, if one chooses to rely on the TEACH Act, one MUST follow the very stringent requirements, including extremely onerous technical requirements of the TEACH Act. Due to the extremely restrictive nature of the TEACH Act, NICC prefers to rely on the traditional fair use principles instead. 

The copying of entire works, such as an entire article, is usually not justifiable as fair use. Per the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia, up to 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less, in the aggregate of a copyrighted work consisting of text material may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated as part of a multimedia project. However, if the article is available through the university’s library holdings online, it would be permissible to provide the students with an online bibliography with links to these resources, making sure that on your course site you clearly indicate that the student is being taken to another site that is not part of your actual online course. 

Per the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia, for music, lyrics, and music video, up to 10%, but in no event more than 30 seconds, of the music and lyrics from an individual musical work (or in the aggregate of extracts from an individual work), whether the musical work is embodied in copies, or audio or audiovisual works, may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated as part of an educational multimedia project.

If your intent is to link to another professor's course site, you should first obtain permission from the professor and the professor’s institution. Although there may be some limited use of the sites permitted from a copyright perspective, these courses were designed for students enrolled in those courses. Even if you were directing students to more generic sites or sites not tied in with an online course, you should either ensure that the website has either published a policy which permits linking to the website or you should otherwise obtain prior permission since you are organizing activities around those sites.

Per the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia, educators may use their educational multimedia projects created for educational purposes for a period of up to two years after the first instructional use with a class. Use beyond that time period requires permission for each copyrighted portion incorporated in the production. Also, educators should be reminded to credit the sources and display the copyright ownership information, which includes the copyright notice ©, year of first publication and name of the copyright holder. Prior to engaging in any use that exceeds the use described in the guidelines, you should obtain the prior written permission of each copyright holder of the materials you would like to use. Also, you should seek permissions (licenses) for all copyrighted works in your educational multimedia projects prior to engaging in any type of commercial use.