Copyright, Piracy, and Ethics

Now that information can be accessed so easily on the Internet, many people believe that anything they find is theirs for the taking. Information is so easy to download and copy, it must be free! Many people probably don’t realize that most things found on the Web are protected by copyright laws. These laws exist to protect the financial interests of those who create original works, but the laws can be very complicated and difficult to comprehend. Here are two scenarios that might clear up some parts of the copyright laws.

#1 – Mr. Jamweimer has paid to download a wonderful computer software program for his son. He sends a copy of the downloaded file to be used on the school computers by the students in his son’s class. Is this allowable according to the copyright laws?

No! Mr. Jamweimer has broken the law! Mr. J. is allowed to make a copy of the program to be used as a back-up in case the original crashes, but he may NOT send the copy in to his son’s school to be used there. The number of students who are allowed to use a software program at the same time is limited to the number of copies the school owns, and since the school does not own the program, they should refuse Mr. J.’s offer and send the copy of the file back to him. This situation does break copyright laws since the school’s free use of the program would be like “stealing” from the creator; he/she could have received financial compensation if the program had been purchased by the school.

#2 – Mrs. Jacobs is teaching her students how to make Power Point presentations. She allows them to download graphics from anywhere on the Internet. They use sites such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN, DOD, and the Rock Music Hall of Fame. Their presentations are terrific, but have they broken copyright laws?

No, they have not broken copyright laws, as long as the presentations are used only in the classroom. Anything can be downloaded as a resource, but if the presentations were to be put on the Web, then permission must be given by the copyright holders. But… this would have been a great opportunity for Mrs. Jacobs to teach her students about the laws and how to obtain permission for use of copyrighted materials. Then the students would have learned much more than how to use Power Point!

For more information on fair use and copyright laws, visit the following sites:

Ten Common Copyright Permission Myths -

http://www.copylaw.com/new_articles/copy_myths.html

The Copyright Quiz - http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2002/10/copyright_quiz.html

Finally, a good rule to follow to avoid breaking copyright laws is this: when in doubt, ask permission!