Dear Parents of Miss Ottolini’s Biology Students,
As we begin the year, I just wanted to let you know a little bit about copyright law and how it relates to your child’s education. Copyright laws are incredibly important for teachers to consider, as teachers often use a variety of instructional materials from different sources. Personally, I plan to use reading materials and online resources quite frequently to supplement the information in the textbook. As a teacher, it is always good to switch your instruction up a bit and pull from a variety of sources to better engage your students. Would you rather read yet another passage in the textbook about evolution or use an online resource to simulate the process of natural selection?
That said, there are a number of regulations I must follow in order to use certain works in the classroom. Students, like me, must be careful to follow copyright law when working on projects and papers for this class. If they are not careful to cite works by others, it is considered plagiarism. We will be discussing this in our classroom, particularly before big projects and papers, but I wanted to make you—as parents—aware of the school’s stance on this.
On the next page, I have included a “Copyright Law Fact Sheet” that defines copyright and Fair Use and lists some of the guidelines I will be following in the classroom. Please take the time to read through this fact sheet, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all. Like with any law, there are many little nuances and exceptions, and I will do my best to stay informed about any new changes to the law. Again, let me know if you have any comments or concerns; I’m always happy to hear from parents! I’m thoroughly enjoying teaching your children, and it’s a pleasure to see their smiling faces every day!
Sincerely, Kate Ottolini
Copyright Fact Sheet
So what is Copyright Anyway?
Copyright Law describes the rights given to creators of original works (e.g., books, songs, videos, etc.). This law protects these creators from unauthorized copying or distribution of their works. They can, however, grant permission for others to use their works and after a long period of time, works become “public domain” (i.e., they can be used by anyone). The specifics of this law are described in the Copyright Act of 1976.
What is Fair Use?
Fair Use is a provision of copyright law that allows someone (e.g., a teacher) to make limited use of a copyrighted work without asking for permission from the author. This provision is probably the largest limiting factor to an author’s rights. Usually considered fair use are the following categories (Note that one of these uses is non-profit education!):
- Criticism and comment
- News reporting
- Research and scholarship
- Non profit educational uses
- Parody
What are some Guidelines that I (Miss Ottolini) will be using in the classroom?
- A teacher can make multiple copies (one per pupil in a course) of a copyrighted work for a class, as long as:
- Poems are less than 250 words and two pages, prose is less than 2,500 words or an excerpt, and only one diagram/picture is copied from a single work.
- The copying is at the inspiration of the individual teacher and it would be unreasonable to take the time to get permission to use the work.
2. Generally, the more material you take, the less fair your use is.
3. Giving the author credit does not necessarily protect you from being accused of copyright infringement.
4. Certain works are not protected by Copyright Law. These include: ideas, procedures, discoveries, etc.
5. Copyright protection starts from the time a work is created and ends 70 years after the death of the author.