The following information is based on the article, “Copyright 101,” by Carol Simpson, Educational Leadership, December 2001.

Copyright Facts:

· Copyright law cannot protect facts, but the expression of those facts may be protected.

· Notice of copyright is not required (If it is written, saved, or recorded, assume it is copyrighted.)

· Copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years for materials created today. (Material published before 1923 is in the public domain.)

· There are some exceptions for schools.

Tests for Fair Use:

· Will the material be used non-commercially in a nonprofit institution?

· Is the work published? Is it factual or creative? (Unpublished works have stronger protections than do published works.)

· Are you using a little or a lot or all of the work?

· What would happen if everyone were to do what you are doing?

The following information is paraphrased from: Valenza, Joyce. “Student Guidelines for Multimedia and Web Page Production,” Power Research Tools. Chicago: American Library Association, 2003, p56-57.

Fair Use Guidelines:

Text:
· Up to 10% or 1,000 words
· Educators may make one copy of an article, map, chart or chapter for private use
· A class set may be made and used if permission cannot be obtained in time

Poems:
· Up to 250 words
· No more than 5 poems by different authors in an anthology
· No more than 3 poems by the same author

Music or lyrics:
· Up to 10% of a musical composition, but no more than 30 seconds
· Alterations may not change the melody or basic character of the work

Illustrations:
· No more than 5 images by an artist
· No more than 15 images from a collection

Motion Media:
· Up to 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less

*These guidelines do not extend to web publishing. They end when the creator loses control of the product’s use such as when others access it over the Internet. You must obtain permission to use all copyrighted portions of a web product.

For information about plagiarism link to

San Jose's Public and University Library tutorial http://tutorials.sjlibrary.org/plagiarism/selector.php

OR

PENN States information page http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/cyberplag/cyberplagstudent.html