Copyright Information for Students and Teachers

"Fair Use" rules are copyright rules for students and teachers. You may use the following without making a copyright violation: 

• Music - 10% or 30 seconds 
• Videos, etc. - 10% or 3 minutes
• A photograph or illustration may be used in its entirety – no more than 5 images of an artist or photographer and no more than 10% or 15 images, whichever  is less from a collective work
• Book - 10% or 1000 words 
• Poem – entire poem may be used but no more than one poem by a poet or 5 poems from an anthology

Additional  Guidelines:

• Students may incorporate portions of copyrighted materials when producing a project for a specific course. 
• Students may perform and display their own projects and use them in their portfolio or use the project for job interviews or as supporting materials for application to graduate school.

*ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES! See our MLA page for help citing sources.*

Copyright Information for Teachers
 "Fair Use" rules are copyright rules for students and teachers. You may copy the following without making a copyright violation:

• A chapter from a book (never the entire book). 
• An article from a periodical or newspaper.
• A short story, essay, or poem. One work is the norm whether it comes from an individual work or an anthology.
• A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper. 
• Poetry: Multiple copies of a poem of 250 words or less that exist on two pages or less or 250 words from a longer poem. 
• Prose: Multiple copies of an article, story or essay that are 2,500 words or less or excerpts up to 1,000 words or 10 percent of the total work, whichever is less.
• Illustrations: Multiple copies of a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture contained in a book or periodical issue.

What Should Be Avoided? 

• Making multiple copies of different works that could substitute for the purchase of books, publisher's reprints, or periodicals. 
• Copying the same works from semester to semester.
• Copying the same material for several different courses at the same or different institutions. 
• Copying more than nine separate times in a single semester.

When is Permission Required? 

• When you intend to use the materials for commercial purposes. 
• When you want to use the materials repeatedly. 
• When you want to use a work in its entirety and it is longer than 2,500 words.

Additional Guidelines:  

• Faculty may include portions of copyrighted works when producing their own multimedia project for their teaching in support of curriculum-based instructional activities at educational institutions. 
• Faculty may use their project for: 
• assignments for student self-study 
• for remote instruction provided the network is secure and is designed to prevent unlawful copying 
• for conferences, presentations, or workshops 
• for their professional portfolio

Additional Copyright Resoures
http://www.copyrightandschools.org/
http://users.mhc.edu/facultystaff/awalter/Brim%20site/
http://kathyschrock.net/pdf/copyright_schrock.pdf
http://www.techlearning.com/techlearning/pdf/events/techforum/tx05/teachercopyright_chart.pdf
http://www.theedublogger.com/2012/02/09/the-educators-guide-to-copyright-fair-use-and-creative-commons/


Works Cited
"Copyright and Fair Use in the Classroom, on the Internet, and the World Wide
     Web."  University of Maryland University College. University of Maryland,
     2009. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.
"Copyright Information." Norcross High School. Norcross High School, 2005.  Web. 7 Dec. 2009. dit.