OER (Open Education Resources), Copyright, & Fair Use

Infographic used with permission of GFCLearnFree.org.

Copyright provides legal protection for original creative works, including, but not limited to, poetry, movies, video games, videos, plays, paintings, sheet music, recorded music performances, novels, software code, sculptures, photographs, choreography, and architectural design. Copyright holders, and those they authorize, have several rights afford to them, including:

• Public display or performance of work.
• Reproduce the entire work of parts of it.
• Distribute copies of the work.
• Derive words, such as translations or dramatizations.

Copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.

• Common copyright scenarios from California State University Long Beach--provides real-life examples of using copyrighted materials in real situations.

Copyright limitations Copyright has limitations and exceptions. Fair Use allows copyrighted material to be used under creation guidelines, without the copyright holder's permission, for purposes such as news reporting, teaching, research, criticism, and parody. 

a concept embedded in U.S. law that recognizes that certain uses of copyright-protected works do not require permission from the copyright holder. (See Title 17, section 107)

The following four factors are used to determine if a use is fair:

• The purpose of the use (eg. commercial vs. educational)**Not all uses in an academic context are automatically considered fair use! (See Cambridge University Press v. Becker, 1:08-cv-01425-ODE (N.D. Ga. March 31, 2016)
• The nature of the copyrighted work
• The amount of the material used (the greater the amount copied, the less likely it is fair use)
• The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the work

Fair Use evaluator tool--A tool to help you better understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code.

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education--from Center for Media & Social Impact, American University