|
General Rules
of Thumb
- Although you have to seriously
consider copyright law, do not lose sight of educations need for
the free exchange of information. Always consider Fair Use by utilizing
the four factor test in every case: 1) purpose of use; 2) nature of
the work; 3) amount used; and 4) market effect. (See Fair
Use Factors in Detail section)
- Public Domain.* This
applies to all media. In the case of images, there are dual copyright
concerns; the underlying work of art and the photographic reproduction
itself are subject to copyright. If securely in the public domain, use
of such text and images is unrestricted. Be sure the work is securely
in the public domain; typically, but not always, the creators
lifetime plus 70 years. We urge you to consult Professor
Lolly Gasaway's public domain chart or Cornell's
public domain chart. See Images section
for further details. To determine if an image is in the public domain,
use the Copy
Photography Computator. This program sets forth parameters of good
practice and can assist in making good decisions about image use.
For an excellent new tool for determining public domain, use
this interactive
"slider" chart.
Return to Copyright Page
Rules of Thumb for Text
Website
- When abstracting information
from another site, make an attempt to contact website author for permission.
Document your request.
- Limit yourself to portions
rather than to the whole text.
- Use the same citation
guidelines as you would for other sources. See http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite7.html,
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html.
- Linking to another site
is an alternative approach.
- In general, incorporate
the text of another website as you would like someone to do with yours.
- After making a good faith
effort to determine who holds copyright (or general rights), make a
case by case decision as to how to proceed.
Protection of your Own Website
- Use a password for access
if appropriate. Keep in mind that your website is open to the world.
- If its for a class,
go through UCIs Electronic
Educational Environment.
- Include notice of permission for use of any of
your material.
- Although you have your material in the tangible
medium of your website, it's automatically copyrighted.
- Keep careful records of any permissions correspondence.
Return to Copyright Page
Rules of Thumb for Images
Digital images are primarily used in academic contexts
for the following educational activities: research, image study, projection
in the classroom, providing visual information on course Web sites, and
use in course assignments, professional presentations, instructional tutorials,
and online catalogues. These uses require different levels of image quality
and varying viewing contexts, each of which comes with its own legal baggage
in terms of copyright law.
For most of the images found on the open Web, obtaining permission from
the actual copyright holder to use electronic copies is not usually necessary
for clear educational purposes. Use of digital images larger than a thumbnail
on unrestricted Web sites or in publications is generally prohibited,
unless permission has been granted by the copyright holder. A photograph
of a work of art actually embodies two copyrights, one for the creator
of the art object and another for the photographer. It is important that
you consider both when determining the rights to an image and if a third
party might also be involved, such as a museum. This is not as straightforward
as it sounds, and you should proceed carefully.
See the Visual Resources
Association for detailed information on intellectual property rights
and copyright specifically focused on image uses.
RECOMMENDED PRACTICES
- It is a ubiquitous practice to search for and
use digital images on the open Web and many people have purposely uploaded
images to share freely in this context on sites such as Flickr
and Wkimedia Commons,
but you should check for watermarking,
creative commons licenses, or any other notification of restrictions
on use rather than assuming you can use any given image.
- There are Fair
Use Web sites that freely allow you to copy digitized images of public
domain objects for reuse in an educational setting. There is some trust
involved here in terms of the quality of the Web site and the interpretation
of its right to use the image. Try the Finding
and Using Images link on the UCI
Visual Resources Collection Web page. To better understand the concept
of a fair use Web site, see Digital
Images and Fair Use Websites.
- The UC Libraries
and Visual Resources Collections license digital images for the educational
purposes of UC students, faculty, and staff. The image providers may
have slightly different restrictions, but usually it is only use on
unrestricted Web sites and in publications that is prohibited. Information
about such licensed collections can be found on the UCI
Libraries’ Images Web site.
- Image services
and digital libraries with images, descriptive data, and management/presentation
tools bundled together are presently the best interfaces for legally
accessing large compilations of images, searching across collections,
and building shared image collections. UC has access to two such systems—ARTstor
and Insight. UC campuses
have started building institutional collections in ARTstor and more
information about UC Shared Images can be obtained at http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/image/
or by contacting Maureen Burns at maburns@uci.edu.
ARTstor is a UC Libraries’ funded subscription allowing for a
high level of copyright comfort. ARTstor staff can provide copyright
information about their core content or facilitate requests for publication
permissions. They also have started an Images for Academic Publishing
initiative allowing users immediate access to creative commons licenses
and images for immediate download and publication.
- Public Domain images
(those in which neither the underlying work of art documented nor the
photographic reproduction itself is subject to copyright) may be safely
acquired by any appropriate means, including copystand photography or
scanning. Use of such images is unrestricted and thus the most desired
form of image to add to a Web page. Be careful that the image is securely
in the public domain, (See Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act in
the Legislation
section), or that you have permission from the photographer. If you
are the photographer, you probably hold the copyright. If one of your
students is the photographer, he or she holds the copyright; you need
to ask permission to digitize it. For an excellent chart on determining
public domain, see Prof.
Lolly Gasaway's chart or Cornell's
public domain chart. The VRA’s
Digital Image Rights Computator is also a valuable tool for determining
what can be freely used.
- It is a simple process to
copy an image directly from the Web if you are pleased with the quality
and if it suits your purpose. However, depending on the use, you might
consider asking the Web site’s author or creator for permission
to do so and explain your educational purpose.
- Many museums have digitized
their collections and will allow you to copy the image from the Web.
They tend to prefer that you use their photography to control the quality
of the image. Clarify or demonstrate to them your educational purpose.
(Museum rights and reproductions people might want to see your use of
the image on your Web site.)
- Commercial vendors do exist
for digital images. (Many of them are the same people you may have contacted
for permission to use a photograph for publication, or they were providers
of 35mm teaching slides). It is fine to use these sources, but beware
of possibly high fees that might have to be renewed annually or other
restrictions that might limit your use of the image. They probably have
the copyright for their photograph of the art object, but may not own
the art. In that case, it is wise to go directly to the museum. These
companies tend to view technological progress as a burgeoning new market
to be tested. Do not duplicate such commercial photography without permission.
- A good clearinghouse
from which to obtain rights and permissions of many represented contemporary
artists is Artist Rights Society
in New York.
- If you cannot locate
the image in any of the above ways, consider scanning from books and
slides or contact the Visual Resources Collection to build shared collections.
The UCI community can access the digital images in the VRC through the
Digital Image Archive.
However, keep quality issues in mind (what you see is what you get)
and remember that the publisher may have rights too. Generally, for
images scanned from books, a site with only campus access is recommended.
At UCI, for example, you can get a password from the EEE (eee@uci.edu)
for course Web site protection.
- A good rule of
thumb is to copy not more than 10% of the images from any given source
and to make not more than one digital copy of the image. (See Basic
Books v. Kinkos in the Legislation
section.)
- Thumbnail (125
x 125 pixels) and vignette (250 x 250 pixels) digital images, i.e. small
scale, low resolution, are not as much of a concern in terms of copyright
as large, high resolution images. They are considered of little intrinsic
commercial or reproductive value. Thumbnails on the Web are typically
used for reference. Recent case law has reinforced that thumbnail image
linking on the Web is a fair use. See Kelly
v. Arriba Soft.
- For digital images on reserve
specifically for a class, it is prudent to prohibit access to the site
when the class is not being taught or to remove the Web site temporarily
(archiving it to retain the work).
- Always acknowledge the source
of the image just as you would in a publication.
- Keep careful records of
any image permissions correspondence (hard copies best).
- Consider reciprocal links
to the Web sites that you copy from, if appropriate. This is a courtesy,
but may be a condition for use in some cases.
Return
to Copyright Page
Rules of Thumb for Multimedia
Legal issues pertaining to Multimedia are complex,
because means of expression are combined. Text, images, audio, video,
and computer related material come together all of which are protected
under copyright law. Therefore it is very important that developers of
multimedia projects understand the basic principles of copyright law to
avoid infringing the copyright of others and to protect their own original
multimedia creations.
Current technology has made it easy to unite different
media, putting developers at risk of copyright infringement. If the work
you use isnt in the public domain, it is important to obtain permission
through an "assignment" or a "license" before including
copyrighted material in your work. Fair use has a role in multimedia,
but educational use should be clearly established. Works created for course
websites or broadcast for distance learning need to be analyzed carefully
to establish what rights need to be acquired. These rules of thumb for
multimedia cover the fundamentals of copyright law. If you have any additional
doubts, advice from experienced legal counsel is recommended.
The
Music Library Association provides an extensive section on fair use
guidelines for educational multimedia.
RECOMMENDED PRACTICES
- TEXT: See rules of thumb
for text.
- MUSIC/AUDIO: See rules of thumb for music.
- Remember that fair use
doesnt preempt or replace licenses or other contractual obligations.
Students and educators may incorporate portions of lawfully acquired
materials in their multimedia projects for class projects or teaching
tools in support of specific curriculum-based activities at educational
institutions.
- Exercise caution when
downloading material from the Internet. As with other media, it is very
easy to copy material from websites. However, it needs to be determined
whether the material is in the public domain or whether the Web usage
is fair use. Permission should be obtained from the owner as with more
traditional media such as books, sheet music, artworks, etc.
- Identify original copyright
owners and request their permission. Keep a record of owners who grant
or refuse their permission. Multimedia projects that could be either
broadly or commercially disseminated, whether immediately or in the
future, should seek permission before the project is completed.
- Even if your project may exalt another individuals
work, do not assume that the owner will be pleased and therefore not
consider you in violation of his/her exclusive rights. Always seek permission.
- Properly credit your sources
and display the copyright notice © and the copyright ownership
information given in the original source.
- Modification of an original
work, whether it is an image, audio or video clip, via digital editing
software, is very risky. Many works are protected by "moral rights"
prohibiting or severely limiting alterations of any kind. The
Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 amended the copyright law to protect
artists moral rights and to preserve the attribution and integrity
of their work. The works in question (created after June 1, 1991) are
considered high art: they are either unique or reproduced in a series
of 200 or fewer and were created for exhibition purposes.
- Cartoons and other mass-produced
images or logos are also registered trademarks, which are protected
by trademark law AND copyright law. Trademark owners are very committed
to protecting and controlling the use of trademarks.
- A notice must be included
on the opening screen and on any other accompanying materials of a multimedia
project clearly stating that certain materials were acquired according
to fair use guidelines under copyright law and are restricted from further
use.
- The reproduction or decompilation
of copyrighted computer programs, even for educational use, is forbidden.
Return
to Copyright Page
Rules of Thumb for Music/Audio
Music poses a number of special issues and a variety of challenges when
it comes to fair use and copyright law. Owners of music enjoy additional
legal rights due to the capacity of music to be performed, recorded, and
arranged. For example, there are several layers to music copyrights in
that one person may own the copyright to the music and another the copyright
to the recording. Many scholarly and pedagogical uses of music materials
are legitimate and vital to preserve and foster creativity and to ensure
transmission of cultural heritage in the United States. Intention and
end result, not means of conveyance, should be the determining factors
in deciding whether the specific use of music is fair use (see the
four factors). It should be remembered that the recording industry
is a powerful opponent in terms of litigation, so caution is advised here.
Traditional analog music has historically had many restrictions on its
usage, even in educational contexts. The
Music Library Association offers detailed guidelines for educational
uses of music. Digital music is even more complicated, because access
to music is abundant through an unprotected digital form, i.e. CDs. Files
containing high-fidelity music can be made small enough for both storage
and downloading with the existing technology. Developing an appropriate
business model is in process, but by no means complete, and current court
cases abound which may necessarily change best practices. Meanwhile, the
development and deployment of technical protection mechanisms provide
options for educators.
*Public domain refers to the status of publications,
products and processes that are not protected under patent or copyright.
Return
to Copyright Page
Rules of Thumb
for Film
Please get in touch with Maureen
Burns or Barbara Cohen with your
individual questions.
Home
| About HumaniTech |
Workshops/Colloquys
| Lecture Series
| UCI Contacts
| Copyright Guidelines | Digital
& Print Resources
| Archives

Copyright © 1999 | © 2003 The Regents
of the University of California.
Director, Barbara Cohen | Webmaster, Marcie Hague
|