Academic Ethics

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Copyright

We live in an age in which the ideas of others have laid a foundation upon which we can study and create works of art. What an amazing time to be alive! The ease at which we are now able to access information, to share ideas, and to distribute creative works is unparalleled in the history of the world. With that ready access, however, come new temptations, novel ways in which to either take things for free or pass them off as our own.

Our current legal code is playing “catch up” with many developments in technology. There are some gray areas in copyright law, but in many aspects it is "black and white." For instance, it is legal to make a copy of a page to facilitate page turns in music rehearsals or performances. Copies of small portions of poetry shared in a classroom setting are also legal and covered under “Fair Use.” Ripping a copy of a CD (that you own) so that you can hear it on your iPod is also OK.

Ignorance of the laws, however, does not excuse a person from penalties. The fees for copyright violation are quite extreme: $100,000 per copy! You might think that Disney won’t come after you for that mp3 copy of the theme song to “Beauty and the Beast” you sent to your little cousin. Perhaps not or maybe you will be the unlucky person chosen to serve as an example for others. In past decades college students have forfeit bank accounts and personal possessions as penalties for copyright infringement. You need to be informed about copyright issues.

Objectives

1. Accurately reply to questions about U.S. copyright law.
2. Accutately reply to questions about fair use.
3. Demonstrate a basic understanding about U.S. copyright law.

Information

Video: "What You Should Know: Copyright and Fair Use" (15 minutes)

YouTube | mp4 | Windows Media | Transcript

**Other information included here as well?

Quiz

Instructions:

For email use your school email address.

For company enter your school (i.e. Towson University).

(These two quizzes return results to different email accounts. See my email for the log in information)

Quiz

Quiz1

Survey

Please take our survey

Further Resources

Ashely Allen, “Copyright Law Module 1 of 3: An Overview of U.S. Copyright Law.” Web link: http://cnx.org/content/m14063/latest/

The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication, “Copyright and Electronic Publishing: Citation.” Web link: http://cnx.org/content/m15914/latest/

"Copyright and the Public Domain."Copyright and Public Domain. Haven Sound, Inc., 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
http://www.pdinfo.com/copyright-law/copyright-and-public-domain.php

Creative Commons "metasearch" page
Enter your search terms in the search query box at top of page, check/uncheck the appropriate boxes below that, then select a site from options below, depending on the type of content you're looking for…
http://search.creativecommons.org/

Here are some university websites with basic copyright information:

• Columbia University,
  http://www.copyright.columbia.edu/

• Univ. of Texas,
  http://www.lib.utsystem.edu/copyright/index.html

• Stanford University,
  http://fairuse.stanford.edu/index.html

• American University's Center for Social Media, http://www.centerforsocialmedia.
  org/resources/publications/