Brandon Aris

LS 521 Sp 02

April 22, 2002

Online Course Module #1

Seeking Permission to Use Graphics or Create Links on the Internet

Objective - Students will be able to understand the implications of copyright guidelines and draft a letter seeking permission to use copyright materials.

Introduction – Some web sites freely grant permission for students to use graphics and create links to their sites for educational projects, but some do not. Primarily, permission is not given when use of graphics or links is for public or commercial use. Since the law in this area is still being tested, it is always best to seek permission from the creator/author before using material that has a copyright.

Activity – Read these guidelines to better understand how to deal with copyright material.

When using a graphic or image from another source in a multimedia project:

• Educators and students often claim “fair use” when saving graphics from a web site and use them in educational projects. As long as the projects stay in the classroom, you are usually within your rights. However, if the project leaves the classroom Fair Use Guidelines no longer apply and you must seek permission from the author/creator of the graphic in order to use it legally.

When creating a link to another web site:

• Clearly indicate that your link points to content created by others. Be as specific possible by giving the complete name of the site, organization, and author.
• Do not include a link to another site within a frame on your page. For instance, your navigation links are on the left side of your page with links to other sites and all of your content is to the right side of the page. This may imply that you created the content to the link. There are actually lawsuits related to this error.
• Always check the site you are linking to for guidelines about links, copyrights, and permissions.
• Play it safe. If you are not sure, write the author/creator seeking permission to use material.

Assignment –

Choose a web site that you would like to create a link to or use a graphic for a project in school. Draft an e-mail message to the Webmaster of the site seeking permission for what it use you want to do. The Webmaster’s e-mail address can usually be found at the bottom of the first page of a site. Here a few examples you may borrow phrases from when writing your message:

To Use a Graphic on an Educational Web Page

Dear ______________,

We are students at _______ School. We are creating an educational web page, and we would like to include the following image(s) from your (web site; CD-ROM; publication, etc.): 

The file name(s) of the graphic(s) we wish to use is: ______. GIF.  It is located at: http://(web address).    

Your graphic(s) will be displayed on our educational web page as a resource for students and teachers.  Our final product will be on our school web site located at http:// (web address).  We intend to honor your copyright by giving your organization full credit and citing you as one of our sources.

Please respond to this message and let us know if we may use this image in our project. Our deadline for publication is ________, and we would appreciate your quick response. If we do not hear from you by ________, we will include your graphic, along with the proper citation. If at any time in the future you should object, we will gladly remove the graphic from our Web at your request.

Sincerely,        

   _______________
Name, E-Mail Address

To Link to a Web Page 

Dear _____________,

We are students at _______ School.  We would like to place a link to your site in our multimedia project in our educational web page at http:// (web address). Your link will be included in a free resource for students and teachers. Our final product will be in the form of a web page.  We will honor your copyright by giving your organization full credit and citing you as one of our sources.  

We wanted to let you know how we will be using your material in our educational project. Thank you for creating such a useful resource. 

Sincerely,        

_______________
Name, E-Mail Address

Resources – Internet law is constantly being written and revised. In order to stay up-to-date on the law, it is necessary to be aware of current guidelines. The following links will be helpful to students and teachers who use the Internet for research on projects.

http://www.sasinschool.com/resource/pages/ethread_copyright.shtml

http://www.techlearning.com/content/speak/articles/copyright.html

Rubric -

3	2	1
E-mail message clearly states what permission is being asked for. Message follows the format of a business letter. No spelling or grammatical errors.	E-mail message clearly states what permission is being asked for. Message follows the format of a business letter. Message may have one or two spelling and grammatical errors.	E-mail message is vague and does not follow the proper format. Multiple spelling and grammatical errors.