Copyright Information

What you need to know

• Copyright protects the creators of any work, including books, stories, poetry, research papers, web content, music, lyrics, artwork, videos, . . .

• Any piece you create is automatically copyrighted once it's in a fixed form.

• The owner of a copyright has complete control over copies, performance, and display of his or her work.

• There can be stiff penalties for violating copyright, such as huge fines and/or up to five years in prison.

How to protect yourself

• Never try to pass off anything someone else has done as your own, even just a little bit.

• Never copy more than 10 percent of a

• If you're unsure if you're violating copyright, ask for permission by contacting the creator of the piece you want to borrow from.

• Use music and images from fair use websites.

Fair Use Sites These sites have music, sound effects, images, and videos which you can use for free without fear of violating copyright laws.

• Free and Fair Use Media Websites

Resources in the Library

• 346.730 GORDON Downloading Copyrighted Stuff from the Internet by Sherri Mabry Gordon

Resources on the Internet

• Copyright Kids

For Teachers Please see the attached files at the bottom of this page for Evergreen Public Schools' school board policy for copyright

• Copyright information for teachers

• Copyright and creativity