It is difficult to get a copyright.
It is actually quite easy to get a
copyright. A work is automatically copyrighted once you have
created it and fix it in a tangible form of expression.
Registering a claim of copyright in your work is also relatively
simple. You can download the appropriate form from the Copyright
Office web site (http://www.copyright.gov/forms/).
The forms contain detailed directions for completing and filing and
require only a $30 filing fee. Registering your claim of
copyright will serve as public notice of your copyright
claim. Moreover, registration within three months after
publishing/distributing your work will entitle you to seek certain
forms of monetary relief for infringement.
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Copyright Does Not Concern Me as an Educator.
As an educator, you enjoy certain freedoms
to make "fair use" of copyrighted materials for educational and
scholarly purposes. This freedom, however, does not give
educators carte blanche to engage in extensive copying of copyrighted
materials with no concern for claims of copyright infringement.
While you may have greater leeway in copying materials for educational,
non-profit purposes, at some point such copying can go beyond
permissible fair use into the realm of infringement. It is
important that you remain sensitive to the need for seeking permission
before engaging in certain reproduction of copyrighted materials.
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I Can Always Copy a Work that Does Not Have a Copyright Notice.
There are certain benefits to placing a copyright notice on a copyrighted work. The
owner of a copyrighted work, however, has no legal obligation to do
so. Of course, a particular work may be uncopyrighted or
uncopyrigtable for a number of reasons. As a result, you should
always determine the status of a work without a copyright notice before
deciding to copy it.
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I Can Never Copy a Work with a Copyright Notice.
Not necessarily. A copyright notice
indicates that the author or owner of the work has claimed a copyright
in it. That claim of copyright, however, may have already
expired, placing the entire work in the public domain. Moreover,
the copyright claim covers only original contributions of an author. Thus,
it may be possible to copy elements of the work that were already in
the public domain or that were otherwise uncopyrightable. It may
also be possible under appropriate circumstances to make "fair use"
copies of a work.
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I Can Copy as Long as I Give Credit to the Author or Copyright Owner.
You should always give credit or
acknowledgement to an author or owner of a copyrighted work that you
have reproduced. If you have the author's permission, such
copying will not constitute an infringement. On the other hand,
unauthorized copying will always be an infringement. The question then becomes whether such copying can be excused as a fair use exception to the author's copyright. The
mere presence of a credit or acknowledgement may not be sufficient to
persuade the copyright owner to forego an infringement suit.
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I Can Copy a Copyrighted Work as Long as It Is Not for Commercial Purposes.
Whether or not you profit from the
unauthorized copying of a copyrighted work is only one factor
considered in determining whether such copying constitutes fair
use. The mere fact that you have not profited from this copying
will not necessarily excuse you from liability for what would otherwise
constitute copyright infringement. Rather, all
pertinent factors, including the non-commercial nature of your project,
will be considered in assessing your potential liability for
infringement.
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I Can Make Copies of Copyrighted Materials Available to Students as Long as Access is Password Protected.
You have created and posted on a web site
materials that reproduce copyrighted works of others. You have
used a password to limit access to these online instructional materials
to students enrolled in your class. Such limited access
demonstrates the non-commercial, educational purpose of your activity. It
also reduces access to the materials by unauthorized persons, thereby
reducing the ability to make additional unauthorized copies of these
third party works. All of this could work in your favor in determining whether such unauthorized copying constituted fair use. It can never excuse what is otherwise impermissible copying of another's copyrighted work.
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Educators Never Get Sued for Copyright Infringement
You prepare a multimedia project for classroom use. In
doing so, you have copied extensive portions of a number of different
copyrighted works without first obtaining permission. You believe
that copying on a limited scale for classroom use will never be
detected. Even if it were, you do not believe that the copyright
owner would spend the time and money to go after such a smalltime
infringer with little or no chance of monetary recovery.
Persons typically engage in such risk
assessment before making unauthorized copies of another's copyrighted
work. Such risk assessments, however, could contain a number of
variables difficult to quantify. It may not be possible to
determine an author's predilection for suing infringers, no matter what
the personal cost. Alternatively, a larger association
representing copyright owners for music or video works may decide to
sue educators at a highly visible institution like Yale to set an
example and deter others from copying works for educational purposes. Consider
the lawsuit filed against Kinko's copy shops for what otherwise
appeared to be fair use copying for educational purposes, the recent
lawsuits filed against teenagers downloading unauthorized copies of
sound recordings from the Internet and an earlier lawsuit filed against
a choir director for making unauthorized copies of music for her
choir. In short--let the copier beware.
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