What is it?

"A legal device that provides the creator of a work of art or literature, or a work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the work is used," according to The Copyright Handbook by Stephen Fishman.

Why should it exist?

The copyright law gives authors control over how their works are used. Originally, it was put into place to promote science and innovation. The copyright law continues to support creativity and originality by allowing the creators to control how their works are used. Without this protection, there would be no motivation to write creatively because others could copy the work without any consequences.

How do I know if I am breaking the copyright law?

Ideas and Facts:

You may use ideas and facts from sources. The copyright law only protects the words used by the authors to share their ideas. The Fair Use Privilege will help explain this.

Fair Use Privilege:

The fair use privilege was created to allow individuals to use writer's works in order for knowledge and education to be encouraged. Fair use creates a balance between the writer and the researcher. This privilege was made section 107 of the Copyright Act in 1976:

"The fair use of a copyrighted work…for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching…scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered… include:

1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work." (The Copyright Handbook by Stephen Fishman, 2000.)

An individual must weigh the four factors listed above to decide if a copyright infringement (breaking the law) is taking place. For the most part, it is common sense. You should only use an amount you feel is appropriate; there is not a specified number of words you are allowed to use. If you are not sure, ask a library media specialist.

Unless your use falls under the Fair Use category, you must receive permission from the copyright owner in order to use the source. This requires advanced planning, but a copyright permission form can be found by your librarian, or at http://

What about making copies on the copy machine?

Make only one copy for your own personal use and always write down the bibliographic information (author, title, publishing company and place, copyright date.) Never copy enough of a document so that you would not have to purchase it; that would be against the law. It is only acceptable to copy a small part of a source so you can take notes from it.

What about the Internet? Can I violate the copyright law through using online sources?

YES!!

For any articles, essays, and graphics found online, the same copyright law and fair use privileges apply.

What if I found a great article on polar bears, and I want to cut out parts of it to put on my poster?

You may only quote from the article and give the bibliographic information. If you print out the article and paste it to your poster, that is a copyright infringement.

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