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| Copyright and Distance Education | Educators use various resources to provide the interest to learning for their students. They apply for this purpose copyrighted extracts or articles from newspapers, magazines, books or films. It is permitted by the Copyright Law of 1976 to apply copyrighted materials in educational process. This law defends the rights of copyright holders too. Those, who do not follow copyright law, will have as civil as criminal penalties. The copyrighted materials can also be confiscated. Unfortunately, it is not always clear how copyrighted materials can be used in a distance education classroom. According to the copyright law one may reproduce the copyrighted materials after getting permission from the holder. The copyright holder is a person who has the exclusive rights to a copyrighted work. Original works that can be copyrighted are literary works, musical works, dramatic works, graphical works, motion pictures, sound recordings and architectural works. Works that have appeared up to 1978, can be copyright protected for 75 years from the date of first publication or for 100 years from the date of creation of the work. Works, that have appeared after 1978 are copyright protected since the moment they have appeared and they can be copyrighted for 50 years since the moment the author is not alive.
According to the Copyright Law of 1976, there is the definition of the copyright holder and works that may be copyrighted. It is permitted to:
- reproduce the copyrighted work in any format;
- prepare derivative works;
- to make the distribution of copies of the copyrighted work by sale, rent, lease, or gift;
- not to copyright works secretly, especially plays, musical recordings and films.
According to the Copyright Law of 1976, fair use is the use of materials without any permission of the copyright holder if the effect from applying of these materials is great. (17 USC section 107). Copyrighted materials can be used for educational purposes or for non-profit purposes. Copied material must not include any critical words. The work can be used when the decision to use it comes spontaneously and it is used for educational purposes.
The length of copied works should be:
- less than 2,500 words if an article or story is complete;
- 1,000 words or 10% of a prose work taken from an extact;
- one illustration, chart, diagram, or picture per book or periodical issue;
- a short poem that contains less than 250 words, or an extract from a longer poem, the number of words should not exceed 250 words.
The guidelines should point that the copying can be used for only one course and no more than one short poem, article or story or two excerpts taken from the works that belong to one author. Ensure that all copied materials have the original copyright.
According to fair use’s copying, it is not allowed to:
- replace an anthology or compilation
- copy workbooks or standardized tests without getting permission
- copy books, authorized reprints, or periodicals instead of buying them
- copy the same material by the same instructor from term to term
- provide with copyrighted materials without paying attention to the actual cost of photocopying.
Copyright permission is received from the copyright holder of the work. It is necessary to contain such information as:
- Full name(s) of the author, editor, and/or translator;
- Title, edition, and volume number of the work;
- Date of the work that is copyrighted;
- ISBN for books or ISSN for magazines;
- Exact pages, figures, and illustrations desired to apply;
- The quantity of copies you are eager to copy;
- If the material is applied separately or together with other works;
- Name of the college or university;
- Date when the material is used;
- Instructor’s name, address and telephone number.
When you make ready multimedia presentations for teaching, you should combine content from other copyright protected sources. Besides, original multimedia works can be copyrighted. It is permitted for educators to apply unreleased materials only in a class atmosphere. If you reproduce or distribute works for commercial purposes, you should obtain copyright permission.
Remember that you should follow the copyright policy, be aware of current copyright law and ask for permission to copy materials. Keep in mind that educational copying is frequently permitted by the law. If you do not want to buy a book and you copy it instead, it is against the law.
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