Copyright 101 for Educators

Do you often question whether it's OK to include portions of a book, film, or song in your classroom lesson? What about whether YouTube can be used as a teaching tool? Hopefully, librarians will have a clearer understanding of copyright law with the new guide “The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education.”

The new report makes clear that all of the actions listed above are legal under fair use, defined as the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment when the benefit to society outweighs the cost to the copyright owner.

Indeed, with so much print and digital content now available, teachers are more fearful than ever about the proper use of copyrighted material in the classroom. But the guide—supported by experts at American University and Temple University—simplifies the legalities of using copyrighted materials in an academic setting. The code, which outlines the basic principles of fair use to media literacy education, also explains limitations and examines common myths about copyright and education.

Developed by the National Association for Media Literacy Education, the Action Coalition for Media Education, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Visual Communication Studies Division of the International Communication Association, and the Media Education Foundation, and facilitated by Peter Jaszi and Patricia Aufderheide of American University and Renee Hobbs of Temple University, the code makes clear that educators can use copyrighted materials from mass media and popular culture if they are used to build “students' critical thinking and communication skills.” This includes, in most circumstances, copying newspaper articles, TV shows, and other copyrighted works for educational use; creating curriculum materials using embedded copyrighted materials; and sharing, selling, and distributing curriculum materials with copyrighted materials embedded.

As part of the project, the Center for Social Media has produced a video to help teachers and students understand their use of copyrighted materials.