Copyright Infringement on ***** Website
The
District has recently received several violation notices for copyright
infringement on our website. As this is a serious issue, and the
District is being billed
for usage fees incurred, we felt it was important to notify all
employees about potential issues that could be present on anyone’s
website. Some areas where we have seen copyright infringements on our
website:
·
Using a photo or image, most likely found from a Google image search, on a website.
·
Taking a photograph of a copyrighted image, cartoon or document and posting it on a website.
·
Posting copyrighted materials on a website.
Common Myths About Copyright
MYTH 1: "Royalty-Free" images are free to use.
In reality, they are only free to use without royalty fees after you have paid a fee to use them.
MYTH 2: Images without a copyright symbol or watermark are free to use.
Copyright law does not require that a symbol be placed on property in order to protect it.
MYTH 3: Teachers/Schools can use anything, even copyrighted materials, under “Educational Fair Use” law.
There are still many restrictions in place for this. Make sure you
fully understand them before you assume your use of something is
covered.
MYTH 4: As long you note the source, it is ok to use freely.
While you might think you are safe doing this, you still do not have
permission to use or distribute the photo or copyrighted material, and
can still be charged a fee. This includes images with watermarked logos
on them.
MYTH 5: If I edit it or only use a portion of the original work I don’t need permission.
Copyright grants the owner exclusive control over changes to their work.
MYTH 6: If it’s on the internet, it is free to use.
Much of the content on the internet is copyrighted. Search engines
just make it more difficult to find that information since you can view
content without going to the original source.
MYTH 7: Images found in a Google image search are free to use.
Google is simply a search engine that helps you locate content, but
is not a content depository. Any content located through a Google
search should be researched to see if it is in the public domain and
does not require permission to use. If you cannot
find the information then assume you cannot use it without penalty.
MYTH 8: If I use a photo and get a violation notice, I can plead ignorance and remove the image without penalty.
Simply removing copyrighted materials does not eliminate the fee. You
have already used the content and are still liable for the fee.
MYTH 9:
My district has purchased the rights to use copyrighted materials in my
curriculum, so I can legally post those resources online for my
students
to access. Posting copyrighted materials on a website constitutes
“distribution” and is not legal, since people who have not purchased the
materials can now access it without paying the owner.
What Steps Can I Take to Ensure I do not Misuse Copyrighted Materials?
·
Only
use images and materials that you created yourself, you have received
permission to use and/or distribute, or have purchased from a stock
photo site.
·
Assume
that all online images and published materials are protected by
copyright. Unless you know where it came from, and what rights go along
with it, don’t use it!
·
Don’t
assume that since you are a teacher or work for an educational
institution that you are covered under Educational Fair Use.
·
Only
use images that are found through a search engine with the appropriate
filters by license or usage rights in place (instructions for doing this
are below).
·
Don’t
post copyrighted curriculum materials on your website. Posting them on
the website constitutes “distribution” and is not legal.
·
If
you need to make copyrighted resources available to your students or a
group of teachers, and you have the rights to use them in this limited
way, with this limited group, you must
require a website login to access that page or file, so that the
general public will not have access to it. Our website management
system, ************, allows you to set viewer access to various parts of your webpage. See your school website manager for assistance.
How Can I Find Images That Are Legal and Free to Use on My Own Website?
Several
popular search engines allow you to filter image searches by usage
rights so you can find images that are safe and free to use.
Google:
·
Enter the keyword(s) of what you are looking for.
·
Select “Images” just under the search bar at the top of the page.
·
Click on the “Search Tools” button under the search bar.
·
Click on the “Usage Rights” dropdown and select the appropriate option other than “not filtered by license”.
Bing:
·
Enter the keyword(s) of what you are looking for in the search box.
·
Once
your search has pulled up results, some filtering options show up
underneath the search bar. Click on the one that says “License” and
then select the appropriate option under
that. Selecting anything but the “all” option should give you graphics
that are safe to use, and in some cases modify as well.
Pics4Learning.com - A safe, free image library for education. Teachers and students can use the copyright-friendly photos & images for
classrooms, multimedia projects, websites, videos, portfolios, or any projects in an educational setting.
I deleted out identifying words to your school district.
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