Copyright law is intended to facilitate the sharing of materials.  Although complex and vague in some respects, copyright law does provide general guidelines and regulations for academics to use in determining what materials they may utilize in their educational activities.  Web-based instruction gives rise to even more complex copyright issues concerning both the question of ownership of the newly created work as well as the question of "fair use" of existing materials.  Recent legislation has attempted to clarify copyright issues for Web-based instruction, but many issues remain ambiguous and open to interpretation.  Academicians of the digital era must attempt to traverse the gauntlet of copyright law while maintaining academic and intellectual standards in their instructional activities. 

The main principle of copyright law as it relates to Web-based instruction is the tenet of “Fair Use.”  Copyright law and fair use are purposely flexible so that they may be adapted to changing needs and circumstances.  To make a determination regarding fair use, four basic principles must be evaluated:  purpose, nature, amount, and effect.

The purpose of the work favors a nonprofit educational use over a commercial use.  Other fair uses include scholarship, research, criticism, and parody.  It is also helpful if the materials are maintained on a restricted Web site – limiting access to only students of the course. 

The nature of the work refers to the copyright-protected material, NOT to the new material you are creating.  Factors that favor fair use are published works, factual works and works that are specifically associated with the educational mission of your course.

The amount of the work copied refers to the amount used from the copyrighted work. Using a whole work tends to weigh against fair use, but including only small portions may weigh in favor of fair use.  In addition, fair use is favored if the amount of the work used is appropriate for the educational purpose. 

And, finally, the effect of the copying on the potential market for, or the value of, the original work must be assessed.  Will use of the copyright-protected material impact the value of or the profit made from the protected material?  In this age of digital resources and online “pay-as you go” access, the issue of effect becomes more difficult to justify as fair use.

In this IAMSE webcast audio seminar, Dr. Anderson introduced these four principles and demonstrated them through presentation of a case study.  He emphasized that in determination of fair use, one need only justify/prove that the preponderance of evidence leans toward fair use.  Thus, if three of the four principles can be justified as fair use – then it is probably safe to use the materials in an educational project.  However, it is important to document the process and the reasoning that occurred in reaching that conclusion.  As unsettling as it may be for academics NOT to have a correct answer, the vague nature of copyright law actually allows for latitude of interpretation and facilitates “. . . the Progress of Science and useful Arts" that was intended by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. 

View Slides from this Presentation