CopyRight
The subject of copyright law and infrindgement had my head spinning.
Three things I learned through this introductory discussion of copyright and fair use laws:
Three things I learned through this introductory discussion of copyright and fair use laws:
- I was surprised to learn that the U.S. constitution, in regard to copyright and fair use laws, was crafted more so to protect the pursuit of knowledge and forward science than to protect any financial gain the owner of the property may claim.
- In practice only very small amounts of material (30 seconds of songs, 10% of videos) can be used to create educational content. Many "fan" pieces on YouTube violate fair use guidelines.
- There are no hard and fast rules. The language contained in the Copyright Act was intentionally crafted to created the broadest interpretation for fair use. Every situation must be evaluated on it's own merits as most material ln the subject is listed as "guidelines" and best practices.
- Is there a group or department at COD I could consult when trying to determine my need to pay fees to use already created material?
- If I have paid for access to video content (Hulu Plus, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, etc) how much can I use in creating content where I give proper credit for source material?