Title: Free Speech, Copyright, and Fair Use

Core Concepts:

• Free Speech: The First Amendment guarantees important freedoms, including the freedom of speech.

• Copyright: A protection given to creators for a limited time to let them receive payment for their work. It serves as an incentive to devote time and money to producing new works, encouraging speech and creativity.

• Fair Use: An important part of copyright that allows limited use of copyrighted work without permission for purposes such as commentary, criticism, parody, teaching, and transformative works.

Flowchart: May I Use This?

1. Is it old enough to be in the public domain? (Published more than 95 years ago)

   • YES: Use it.

   • NO: Go to next step.

2. Did the creator choose a Creative Commons license to allow sharing without permission?

   • YES: Use it.

   • NO: Weigh these options together to decide if you have a legitimate fair use claim.

The 4 Factors of Fair Use:

1. Purpose & Character of Your Use: Is your new work transformative because it adds new expression to the original (like a parody) or uses it for a new purpose (like teaching)?

2. Nature of the Original: Is the original work highly creative or just a bunch of information?

3. Amount & Substance: Did you use more than was necessary? Did you take the heart of the thing?

4. Effect on the Market: Could your use affect the market by substituting for the original in the marketplace?

Final Determination:

• Is this fair use?

  • YES: Use it.

  • NO: STOP — You need permission from the owner.

Footer note: Everyone benefits when we understand the rules and treat each other with respect. Learn more at CopyrightandCreativity.org.

Title: 10 Things You Should Know About Copyright

Section 1: Copyright Protects Creative Work — Yours, Mine, Everyone's!

1. Consumers and Creators: We're all both consumers and creators of creative work. As consumers, we watch movies, listen to music, read books, and more! As creators, we take photos, write songs, make videos, etc.

2. Protection of Work: Copyright protects creative work, so people can't generally copy or share or perform other people's work without permission.

3. Constitutional Roots: Copyright comes from the Constitution. Its purpose is to promote more creativity. The idea is that letting each of us decide what happens to our own creations will encourage us to keep creating.

4. Instant Protection: All creative work is protected by copyright as soon as it's written down or recorded or saved—and not just work by professional artists or big studios. Copyright protects all of us—our photos on Instagram and everything we write or create.

5. Copyright Infringement: If you copy or share other people's creative works without permission, that's called copyright infringement.

   • Examples:

     • Downloading music, movies, ebooks, or games from illegal sources that operate without artists' permission.

     • Uploading your collection of music, movies, ebooks, or games for your friends to copy.

   • Copyright infringement is illegal and carries serious penalties.

Section 2: But Copyright Doesn't Cover Everything

6. Limitations on Copyright: Copyright provides extensive protection, but it also has limitations. Not everything gets copyright protection. Facts and ideas are not protected by copyright; neither are U.S. government documents, like NASA photos and reports by federal agencies.

7. Fair Use: Another limitation of copyright is "fair use," which allows us to copy and re-use copyrighted work without the artist's permission in certain, limited ways that are still fair to the creator.

8. Fair Use in School: When you re-use portions of someone else's work for a school project—like using images or songs for a presentation in class—that's a fair use situation. You don't need the author's permission.

9. Public Domain: Copyright protection doesn't last forever. Eventually it expires, and the creative work falls into the "public domain." Works in the public domain are free to re-use and share however you want.

10. Creative Commons: Some creators are happy to share their creative work. They use a licensing system for sharing called Creative Commons. You can find millions of CC works that are free to share or re-use.

Source: CopyrightandCreativity.org