Brandon Leavell

2/8/2019
ETEC 424

The Impact of Copyright and Fair Use on Education

Copyright is essentially a law that gives a content creator complete control and ownership

of their creations and prevents other people from stealing their work for free use. Furthermore,

the copyright owner has authority to determine who can use the work for publishing, editing, or

distribution. In regards to how long the copyright lasts, “the copyright is in effect from the time

the author creates it, until that author’s death, plus another 70 years beyond the date of death”

(Wood, 2019). On the other hand, fair use is being able to use a limited amount of copyrighted

work for the purposes of education, criticism, commentary, research, and parodies. However,

“copyright law does establish four factors that must be considered in deciding whether a use

constitutes a fair use” (What is Fair Use, n.d.). One of the factors indicating positive fair use is

that the work is for non-profit purposes. The second factor is that the work should be lean more

towards fact-based than creative works. The third factor is a small portion must be used and not

the entire piece of work. Finally, the fourth factor is that the usage has no effect on the market of

the original work by the content creator.

Copyright and fair use laws play a significant role in the educational system for both

teachers and students alike. It is no secret that students around the country plagiarize copyrighted

work every day to use as their own. Most of the time, the reason is because the student is lazy

and wants to finish their work in the quickest possible method. But with helpful online tools for

teachers to utilize and check for plagiarism, it is easy for students to get caught in the act. It is

best for the student to cite and give credit where it is due to avoid any problems. However, as

long as the student only quotes a couple lines in their paper, does not copy the entire copyrighted
Brandon Leavell
2/8/2019
ETEC 424

work, and the usage does not have an effect on the market of the original work, it will abide by

fair use guidelines since the work is being used for educational purposes in an academic paper.

As for teachers, it is extremely common to see the usage of movies, graphics, music, and

worksheets within the classroom instructional materials. If a teacher were to fully copy and

distribute original worksheets, burn DVDs to use, and download music illegally to play in the

classroom, that teacher would be breaking the copyright laws. There are, however, ways for

teachers to use content without breaking copyright laws, such as utilizing content in public

domain. Public domain is where “an item is in public domain when it is no longer protected by

copyright because of the age of the work” (Copyright for Teachers, n.d.). Therefore, any piece of

content that is within the public domain can be used for free without having to receive

permission from the creator. In addition, a United States District Court has concluded that when

teachers “use less than ten percent (10%) of a copyrighted book, then such use is fair use and

does not constitute copyright infringement” (Spielman, 2012). As a result, teachers can freely use

copyrighted material for lessons as long as they abide by the ten percent rule. By students and

teachers developing a concrete understanding of the copyright and fair use guidelines, legality

issues can be minimalized or avoided altogether.

Brandon Leavell
2/8/2019
ETEC 424

References

Copyright for Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2019, from

https://www.auburn.edu/citizenship/copyright_for_teachers.html

Spielman, D. (2012, June 14). Ten Percent Is Fair Use For Educational Institutions - Copyright

Owners Disappointed • Complex IP. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from

https://www.complexip.com/ten-percent-is-fair-use-for-educational-institutions-

copyright-owners-disappointed/

What is Fair Use? | Copyright Alliance FAQs Page. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2019, from

https://copyrightalliance.org/ca_faq_post/what-is-fair-use/

Wood, A. M. (2019, January 18). Copyright Explained For Students: Don't Get Caught Out.

Retrieved February 8, 2019, from https://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/student-

copyright/
Brandon Leavell
2/8/2019
ETEC 424

Responses

Response to Kelan Smith:

Hey Kelan,

I am struggling to see your viewpoint as to how plagiarism and copyright are different. You

stated that "While plagiarism is illegal, copyright and fair use is the opposite and make it to

where you can use part of another person’s material". From what I researched online, copyright

is a civil crime and is illegal as well. Are you saying that copyright and fair use are the same

concept, rather than being separate ideas? Also, could you please elaborate on how plagiarism

varies from copyright?

Brandon Leavell

Response to Tracie Quintero:

Hey Tracie,

You provided a great detailed description over what copyright is and I like how you mentioned

once a piece of work is created, it is already copyrighted. I am sure a lot of people out there

probably do not know that about copyright. As future educators, it is important that we

understand the "do's and don'ts" of copyright so we do not cause infringements in the classroom.

One new piece of information I learned from reading your post was how schools hold licenses

from The Copyright Licensing Agency, so I thought that was neat to discover.

- Brandon Leavell
Brandon Leavell
2/8/2019
ETEC 424

Response to Madison Shaw:

Hey Madison,

I like how you gave a very clear and concise view on what copyright is in the beginning of your

post. The phrase, "tangible meaning of expression" is an excellent way of putting it into

perspective. In addition, you brought up a good point with music and copyright. For musical

artists, it can be easy to infringe on another artist's song as we have seen many artists get sued

over copyright infringement. As for the parody of the YMCA tune and the math equation of

"y=mx+b", I have never heard of that tune being used for that equation before. I can see how that

tune would be helpful with remembering the equation! I did not know that would be covered

under Fair Use but you are right that it is being used for educational purposes. Thanks for sharing

that example.

Brandon Leavell