Jessika Coronado

Copyright and Fair Use

Copyrights have been a big part of our history. Copyright is very important for people

with innovative ideas, and artists or writers. The definition of copyright stated by the U.S.

Constitution as ​“to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times

to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries, (​US

Constitution, 2017​). This means that “Originally copyright was meant to be a means by which

the government could restrict printing, but in the modern sense it protects authors, publishers,

producers, and the public by ensuring the rights of the copyright holder to be credited for the

work, to determine its use, and to benefit from it financially,” (​LibGuides: Copyright 101:

Introduction​). ​This is why downloading music and movies for free is illegal. This is because it is

a copyright infringement. It stops the author from getting the financial benefits and giving

permission for you to take their work. ​Copyright is simply the rights that are automatically given

to someone that has created original works such as movies, songs, software, literature, etc. You

can draw a straight line from the U.S. constitution to copyrights. “Copyright is pretty much

property rights that are protected by the U.S. government,” (What is Copyright). Copyright laws

can give the general public a look at creative works the owners have no obligation to give them.

The purpose of copyright is to give credit where credit is due and obtain permission before using

others’ work. This will limit individuals stealing other intellectual property and allow for others

to create their own ideas and work.

Teachers use copyrighted material in the classroom as educational aids. Without

copyrighted material, teachers would not be able to be effective teachers. This is because they
would not be able to use ideas, literary works, videos, audios, and other sources as a way to

improve and further learning. Teachers have different laws than other citizens. They can use

copyrighted materials without the permission of the credible author. This is because it would be

impossible for every teacher in the United States to get permission for every powerpoint, literary

work, or materials needed for the lesson plan it would be impossible. It would hinder the learning

process and knowledge, students can obtain due to teachers using not being able to build off of

the works of others or formulate their own ideas and activities.

Teachers are able to use copyrighted material because of the classroom exception that is

separate from fair use. “The classroom exception applies to face to face instruction and provides

an educator to use and display entire copyrighted material that can be found in section 110(1) of

Chapter 1: Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright​,” (​Copyright: Applying Fair Use, n.d.​). This

means that teachers can not be sued or be in the wrong for using other individuals’ works to

enhance and improve their lessons and classroom objectives. Fair use can be defined as

“​allowing for limited use of copyrighted material without permission for purposes such as

criticism, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and teaching,” (Office, U. S. C. ,

n.d.). This means that individuals can use copyrighted material and not be breaking the law. ​Fair

use serves as a guideline that can be considered to help enable educators to use copyrighted

material for educational purposes. “There are four factors to the guidelines of using fair use and

they are purpose, nature, amount, and effect, (Stim, R., & Stim, R., (2017). One factor is the

purpose and this is because the context in which a person uses the material can determine

whether or not the intent. The second factor is nature and this is because of the type of work you

use and if it is a published work or not. The third factor is amount because depending on if the
individual uses the entire work or simply a portion. The final factor is effect and this is if the use

of the copyrighted source results in loss of profit.

Some examples of teachers using copyrighted material in the classroom and their lesson

plans are a teacher who makes a class copy of one poem for a poetry book to use as a class

assignment. Where students are to annotate and analyze the poem, this would be an appropriate

fair use of copyrighted material. Another example can be when educators make a class copy of

one chapter of the novel Frankenstein and uses the chapter in an assignment to determine what

each student believes in the theme and annotate the chapter. These are two examples of how fair

use of copyrighted material can be used for educational purposes and to enhance and further the

knowledge of students who want to learn.

 References

Copyright: Applying Fair Use. (n.d.). Retrieved from ​https://guides.nyu.edu/fairuse​.

LibGuides: Copyright 101: Introduction. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://tamuc.libguides.com/copyright​.

Stim, R., & Stim, R. (2017). Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors. Retrieved from

https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/#too_small_for_fair_use_the_d

e_minimis_defense.

Office, U. S. C. (n.d.). Chapter 11: Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright. Retrieved from

https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#110.

US Constitution. (2017). Retrieved from ​https://fairuse.stanford.edu/law/us-constitution/​.

Using Copyrighted Material. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.baylor.edu/copyright/index.php?id=56543.

“What Is Copyright: Copyright FAQs Answering All Your Copyright Questions.”

Copyrightalliance​, 2 Jan. 2019,

https://copyrightalliance.org/ca_faq_post/what-is-copyright/​.