Copyright Laws

The University of Central Florida requires faculty, staff and students to abide by applicable copyright law. Pursuant to United States Code, Title 17, Section 101, “copyright protection subsists in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium," which includes works of literature, music, drama, film, sculpture, visual art, architecture, and other creative media.

Black’s Law Dictionary defines “copyright” as “an intangible right granted by statute to the author or originator of certain literary or artistic productions, whereby he is invested, for a specified period, with the sole and exclusive privilege of multiplying copies of the same and publishing and selling them.”

UCF currently recommends instructors obtain permission for the use of any copyrighted materials they may want to use in an online course unless they determine that they can apply a copyright exemption through Fair Use or the TEACH Act. Instructors may also link to Web sites which contain information pertinent to their online course. The following pages provide an overview of copyright law, an explanation of the Fair Use Guidelines and the Teach Act of 2002, as well as links to additional resources on copyright in the online environment.

Why do copyright laws exist?

Copyright is one of the major types of Intellectual Property laws that exist in the United States to protect the rights of the creators of original works. The laws grant the copyright owner the exclusive rights to reproduce, create a derivative work, distribute, perform and display the copyrighted material. In addition the copyright owner can determine who he/she authorizes to use the work.

Initially, the rights of copyright owners are protected to encourage individuals to be creative and to be rewarded for their creativity. These rights are then somewhat limited in order for society, as a whole, to be able to benefit from that person's creativity.

As the copyright owner of an online course you may be combining "content" (e.g., music, text, graphics, illustrations, articles, and photographs) that is protected under copyright law. Instructors must avoid infringing copyrights owned by others and should develop an understanding of their own Intellectual Property rights. The Center for Distributed Learning identifies the University's position regarding online courses in its General Policies on Intellectual Property Rights section of Distributed Learning: Scope and Policies.

What is copyrighted material?

Once a work is in a tangible form, it is considered copyrighted. The Copyright Act states that works of copyright ownership include the following types of works:

• Literary works. Novels, nonfiction prose, poetry, newspaper articles and newspapers, magazine articles and magazines, computer software, software manuals, training manuals, manuals, catalogs, brochures, ads (text), and compilations such as business directories.
  
• Musical works. Songs, advertising jingles, and instrumentals.
  
• Dramatic works. Plays, operas, and skits.
  
• Pantomimes and choreographic works. Ballets, modern dance, jazz dance, and mime works.
  
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works. Photographs, posters, maps, paintings, drawings, graphic art, display ads, cartoon strips and cartoon characters, stuffed animals, statues, paintings, and works of fine art.
  
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works. Movies, documentaries, travelogues, training films and videos, television shows, television ads, and interactive multimedia works.
  
• Sound recordings. Recordings of music, sounds, or words.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, you must assume all materials found on the Internet are copyrighted even though it may not include a copyright notice. For this reason, you should not include in your online course anything found on the Internet without first getting permission from the copyright holder. (Caution: the copyright holder may not be the person displaying the work on their Web site!)

If you want to use it, ask permission!

When you include any content in an online course you are performing two actions:

1. Converting the material into a digital format (creating a derivative work)
2. Distributing that material via the Internet.

These two rights solely belong to the copyright owner. If you want to display, perform, or distribute something that is copyrighted, the safest course to follow is to always obtain permission (in writing) from the actual copyright owner. This may entail paying a fee to allow the use of the copyrighted work. Georgia Harper from the University of Texas provides comprehensive guidance for obtaining permission to use a copyrighted work. Or you may follow the model of the sample letter or use the sample form to request permission. When it is not possible to obtain permission, do not use any copyrighted materials unless the use of that portion of the work is weighs heavily in favor of the Fair Use Doctrine or other recognized guidelines.