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Technology has dramatically changed the manner in which people share ideas and information. Students now have unprecedented access to information in all its forms--text, images, sound, and video. This new access, combined with the new ease with which people can publish electronically, has added to the complexity of copyright issues.

At Springfield Township School District we are concerned about teaching our students to behave responsibly in an electronic environment. We expect students to respect the integrity of intellectual property.

The following are guidelines to aid you in creating research products using technology. They summarize the Fair Use Guidelines for Multimedia (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/mtss/fairuse/guidelines.html) produced by the Consortium of College and University Media Centers in 1996.

In creating academic multimedia products, using such products as KidPix, HyperStudio or PowerPoint, students may use the "lawfully acquired copyrighted" works of others with proper credit and citations. They may perform and display their own educational multimedia projects in the course for which they were created. They may also retain them as examples of their academic work for later personal uses such as job and graduate school interviews.

The rule of thumb for multimedia projects is to "be conservative." Use only small amounts of the works of others and cite them carefully. Do not make any unnecessary copies--no more than two "use copies" and one additional back-up copy. (If a group created the project, each major contributor may make his or her own copy but only for the purpose for which the project was originally created.)

Crediting Sources

Students should include a note on the opening screen of their project stating that some materials in the presentation are included in accordance with the Multimedia Fair Use Guidelines and are restricted from further use.

Students should credit all sources of copyrighted information with full bibliographic citations, including author, title, publisher, and place and date of publication, URL, etc. This bibliographic information may be combined and shown in a separate section of the project. (There are exceptions for images when used for distance learning.) If the copyright notice © and copyright ownership information is shown in the original source, students must show it in their credits.

If there is a possibility that students will later use their multimedia project in another way, for example dissemination on the Web, they should take steps to obtain permission to use all copyrighted portions while the project is being developed rather than waiting until the project is completed.

Portions Used

Specific guidelines limit the portions of copyrighted works students are allowed to use in a multimedia project. Portion use varies according to information format:

TEXT

• Up to 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less of a copyrighted work
• Poems: The entire poem if less than 250 words - 250 words or less if using a longer poem
• No more than 5 poems (or excerpts) by different poets, from an anthology
• No more than 3 poems (or excerpts) by one poet

• Up to 10% of a copyrighted musical composition, but no more than 30 seconds from an individual musical work
• Any alterations cannot change the basic melody or the fundamental character of the work

• A photograph or illustration may be used in its entirety
• No more than 5 images by an artist or photographer
• No more than 10% or no more than 15 images from a collection

• Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or 3 minutes, whichever is less

• Up to 10% or 2500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less, from a copy righted database or data table

• Care should be taken in downloading material from Internet sites for use in multimedia presentations. Students should be aware that some copyrighted works have been posted to the Internet without authorization of the copyright holder.

• Educators and students may make alterations in the portions of the copyrighted works used in an academic multimedia project only if the alterations support specific instructional objectives. All alterations must be noted.

Permission is Required:

• For multimedia projects used for non-educational or commercial purposes
• For duplication or distribution of multimedia projects beyond limitations outlined above (posting on the Web, for example)
• When distributing the project over an electronic network

Publishing on the Web

The Fair Use Guidelines do not extend to Web publishing. They end when the creator of the multimedia project loses control of his product's use, such as when it is accessed by others over the Internet. Students should take steps to obtain permission for all copyrighted portions of a Web product, unless it is clearly noted that these materials are in the public domain and available for free use. Requests for permission should begin while the project is being developed.

Requesting Permission of a Copyright Holder

When writing for permission you are more likely to get a positive response if you:

• make it easy for the copyright holder to respond
• are very clear and specific about what materials you want to use
• are very clear on how you plan to use them
• make your request politely and intelligently

Remember to:

• Ask only for what you really need
• Write early so that you have a better chance of getting a response before your deadline.
• If you are sending a request via regular mail, include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Permission Letter Template

The following is a template for a letter you might mail or email requesting permission to use copyrighted work in your multimedia projects. You may choose to use the document posted on the Virtual Library. Import or type it into a word processing program and edit it carefully.

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Copyright 2003 School District of Springfield Township - Updated 12/10/03--All Rights Reserved