Another good copyright summary

If you have students post to forums, usenets, listservs, blogs, etc, it might be useful for them to read a copyright warning from such a source. Here is a useful debunking of several copyright myths in plain language. Its location on a sports forum might make it more accessible to students.

Notice to Everyone posting

Digital media, ethics and law

Here is a handy explanation of ethical and legal issues around the use of digital media from the University of Michigan - http://www.umich.edu/~policies/digital-media.html

Copyright Brochure

The Association of Research Libraries has published a brochure that you may find useful. "Know Your Copy Rights—What You Can Do - A 2007 Brochure Aimed at Faculty and Teaching Assistants" is available for free download from the organization's copyright website.

Copyright Tutorial

Western Washington University has a handy interactive Copyright Tutorial if you'd like to test your knowledge in this area.

Copyright and the web

If you are curious about copyright issues as they relate to your web content, you should have a look at this website, From Now On. The linked article discusses several of the issues of copyright and the web.

http://www.fno.org/jun96/legal.html

Also, save March 26 on your calendar. At 1:00 we'll be doing a copyright workshop directly aimed at websites and online instruction. Keep your eye on your e-mail for additional details.

Public Domain Music Resource

Here is an interesting collection of links to public domain music resources, including sheet music, choral music, music research, amd even film and video. If you like music, this is worth a look.

Public Domain Music

Using Student Work

If you want to use student work as models or examples (or any other purpose), you need to get the student's permission to do so. I often just ask a student via e-mail whether I can use their work and their reply via e-mail serves as my written record of their permission.

You can also do this more formally with a form. Here are some examples from other institutions to give you an idea of how you might want to put such a form together.

• Indiana University Purdue University

Safe Stuff on Google

Now, you can find public domain music, images and more using Google. Just click on Advanced Search. Near the bottom of the advanced search box is Usage Rights. You can use the drop down menu next to it to find "free to use or share" and "free to use and modify".

This is a great way to target a copyright safe search.

Fair Use Analysis Tool

Wondering whether your use is a fair use? While there no substitute for a legal opinion and no absolute black and white answers in fair use, you can certainly perform a relevant balancing test using this handy checklist from Indiana University.

http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/checklist.htm

Just go through the list and check the information that best matches your use. When you are done, print out the checklist and save it as a reference if any questions come up about your use in the future.

Also take a moment to read their useful Introduction to Fair Use, linked at the top of the page.

The Horse's Mouth - Copyright.gov

Have you created a work that you would like to have copyrighted? Whether it be a print document, music, image, dance - any creative work can be copyrighted. But how do you do it?

The US Copyright Office has a handy website with all the information you need to do all sorts of things related to copyright, including registering your work - http://www.copyright.gov/register/

Got something in mind that isn't quite done yet? Want to collaborate but are afraid your idea might be stolen? Did you know you could pre-register your work? Just click on this handy link - http://www.copyright.gov/register/.