Fair Use
- What is it?
- What it does and does not do
- Two key questions
- Did the unlicensed use "transform" the material taken from the copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose than that of the original, or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the original?
- Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature of the copyrighted work and of the use?
Fair Use for Media Literacy
- Five Principles - Let's take a look
Fair Use in Online Video
- Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video. Center for Social Media. (Look at number six in this piece for more information on how this applies to the use of existing videos and songs.)
- Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use. Center for Social Media
Attribution/Citation of Sources
- For online sources, include author/organization/publisher, title/description of asset, date of access and URL.
"The safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material."
- US Copyright Office
Scenarios
- Case study 1: Biology class from Upper Merion Area High School in PA creates virtual zoos
- Case study 2: PSAs on global warming from fourth grade students from Brooklyn, NY
Fair Use Resources
- Fair Use. Center for Social Media, School of Communication, American University
- Copyright Clarity: How Fair Use Supports Digital Learning. Renee Hobbs, Media Education Lab, Temple University
- Worksheet for having students document the fair use process (Download the PDF)
- Model School Copyright Policy for Using Copyrighted Materials in Digital Media Production. The FAQs at the end of this document are GREAT in helping to make decisions about fair use!
- Copyright and Fair Use: Lesson Plans for High School, College and Graduate Education. Media Education Lab, Temple University
- Copyright and Fair Use. Stanford University Libraries
Copyright Resources
- Copyright Law of the United States. U.S. Copyright Office
- Copyright Confusion Wikispaces - with resources and lesson plans
Bookmarking Online Resources and Images
- Delicious - a social bookmarking tool
Places to Find Copyright-Free Resources*
*Check individual sites and images for copyright, use and attribution information
- Department of Agriculture Image Gallery
- Department of the Interior Photo Resources Library
- Great Images in NASA (GRIN)
- NASA Image Exchange
- NASA Multimedia Gallery
- NASA's Planetary Photojournal
- National Institutes of Health Image Bank
- National Library of Medicine: Images from the History of Medicine
- NOAA Photo Library
- NOAA - National Marine Sanctuaries Media Library
- Smithsonian Flickr PhotoStream
- US Fish and Wildlife Services Images
- US Geological Service Photographic Library
- USDA National Agricultural Library