Copyright Laws

With the advent of various "new" media, some of the old rules regarding "fair use" seem to have changed.  In the days of primarily print media in education, teachers were allowed to photocopy modest portions of books and periodicals and distribute them to their classes for instructional purposes without apparently violating the copyrights of the original authors.  Nowadays, however, it looks as if the amount of material teachers are allowed to copy and disseminate has decreased substantially if the material is in a form other than print. (Whether this change is apparent or real is open to some debate.) Also, the rules for teachers and students are different. Students appear to have a slightly more liberal "fair use" rights, at least in terms of them being able to use materials in portfolios multiple times, whereas teachers are not allowed to continually reuse copied materials without getting the permission of the copyright owners.

Here are two links from two different universities that are designed to help students and teachers understand current copyright law, specifically as it pertains to educational settings:

• From the University of Maryland
• From the University of Texas