Copyright Considerations for Using
Images in
Course Materials and/or Student
Assignments
Scenarios
Students will be asked to take their own
photograph(s).
--if you want to keep copies
of their assignments to show students in future courses (and the assignments
contain only original work), you will need permission from each student. (The URL below has a form instructors may
use. You may edit this as appropriate.) Note that there is a distinction made
between electronic copies and paper copies. If you have questions, contact
Rosemary Chase in the University Libraries Copyright Office (rchase@gmu.edu).
http://library.gmu.edu/services/studentr.doc
Students use photographs that are copyrighted following
fair use guidelines and instructor would like to be able to show the assignment
to students in future courses.
--a student is permitted to
HAVE only ONE copy. The student may choose to give the instructor that copy.
You must have written permission from the student. If you post it on the web,
it must be password protected. The instructor may not use the images for more
than two years. See the following URL for more detailed information:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~scampbel/copymed.html
Instructor is planning to use photographs from a
Federal government web site.
--if the site is using the
Federal Government’s own photos then the images are considered public domain. (For
an example, see the United States Geological Survey web site at the URL below.)
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Products/Pglossary/
Instructor is planning to provide images that are
copyrighted following fair use guidelines.
--the images may be used up
to two years. Afterwards, they can only be used with permission. (The URL below
provides fair use guidelines for both instructors and students.) If posted on
the web, the images should be password protected.
http://mason.gmu.edu/~scampbel/copymed.html
Instructor
is planning to use an illustration from a book published before 1923.
--books published before
1923 are in the public domain.
--if an image that was taken
(made) prior to 1923 is published for the first time in a recent book, then it
is not considered public domain.
--if an image was taken
prior to 1923 and was originally published prior to 1923, and it appears in a
recent book, then it is public domain. Reference should be made to the original
copyright date.
Instructor is planning to use images from a virtual gallery.
--copyright restrictions can
vary from image to image. It’s best to make an appointment with Rosemary Chase
in the University Libraries Copyright Office (rchase@gmu.edu)
after you have identified web-based images that you would like to use.
Instructor is planning to use images that were
copyrighted in another country.
--copyright restrictions from
that country should be honored.
--following fair use
guidelines (including password protecting images) is an option.
http://mason.gmu.edu/~scampbel/copymed.html
Instructor is planning to use still images captured
from a film.
--the fair use guidelines
say that for ‘motion media,’ up to 10% or 3 minutes of the film (whichever is
less) may be used as a film CLIP.
However, there is no case law, no legal precedent, and no agreement on
fair use quantities of stills or individual frames from a film. The calculations below are for illustrative
purposes only – and should not be taken as a serious determination. On production-quality film, there are 24
frames per second (a frame would be equivalent to one captured image
still). These figures are NOT in any
published guidelines, but if you apply the 10% or the 3 minutes from the fair
use guidelines, this is what it would yield:
24 frames per second (fps)
multiplied by 60 seconds = 1440 frames per minute
60 minutes (a one-hour
feature film) = 86,400 frames.
10% of 86,400 = 8,640
frames.
3 minutes = 4,320 frames (3
minutes multiplied by 1440 frames per minute)
In this example, you would
be “limited” to 4,320 frames if you are following fair use guidelines AND if
these stills are not available for retail purchase.