Adviser Update Adviser Update Spring 2017 | Page 20
TEMPTATIONS
OF THE INTERNET
HOW COPYRIGHT LAW’S FAIR USE DOCTRINE CAN HELP YOU LEGALLY
USE MANY OF THE THINGS THINGS YOU FIND ON THE WEB.
By Gary Clites
T
he laws of copyright
and plagiarism have
been a challenge for
publication advisers
as long as there have been
photocopiers. With the
omnipresence of the Internet
and students’ easy access to
the intellectual property of
others, the temptation on
deadline to fill those little holes
in the newspaper, yearbook,
website or magazine with
material easily downloadable
has become more and more
intense.
Let’s face it: We all know that
it is highly unlikely a major
publication or corporation
would sue a student newspaper
for grabbing a photo off the
Internet to accompany an
article, but we also know it
is bad educational policy to
allow our students to bend the
rules of copyright to solve their
layout problems. Generally,
that means requiring students
to get written, or at least
verbal, permission before using
anything they download off the
web in a student publication.
We also know how difficult it
can be to get professionals to
respond to student requests for
permission to publish.
A little known tenet of
copyright law may allow you
to use some of the items
students commonly download
off the internet without getting
permission and in a perfectly
legal manner.
Fair Use is a concept within
copyright law which allows
for the use or reproduction
of copyrighted material
under certain circumstances
and for particular purposes.
Specifically, Section 107 of
Title 17 of the United States
Code related to copyright law
states that: “...the fair use of a
copyrighted work, including