Blog 3: Copyright and Fair Usage Rights

The following post is about the rules and regulations regarding copyright and fair use, as well as how much material from different forms of multimedia are allowed to be used without having to get permission to do so. Now let's get started!

According to the University of Maryland University College library website, copyright can be defined as, "a legal device that provides the creator of a work of art or literature, or a work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the work is used." Copyright is something used by the owners of any form of media to ensure that they, the owner(s) of the media, will be allowed to and able to do whatever they want with said media, without others being able to take credit for their work. The most common forms of media to be copyrighted are movies, songs, and pictures. Copyright protects the owner from other individuals making copies of the product, as well as protects them from others selling the product without the owner making money. 

Fair use is defined as the use of part of a published product, in which the user sites where he or she obtained the information or content. Some common fair use examples are a chapter from a book, a chart from a presentation, or a clip from a newspaper. In regards to fair use policy, there are certain guidelines that must be followed so that the use can still be considered fair use. For example, one cannot make enough copies so that students do not purchase a book or copying a single work more than nine separate times in a semester. 

In order to comply with the many regulations set forth to protect copyright owners, there is a set amount of content that is allowed to be used by someone other than the copyright holder. In regards to motion media, which includes movies and T.V. shows, only ten percent or three minutes of the film may be shown, depending on which is less of the two. For text writing, ten percent of the overall work, or one thousand words (again, whichever is lower) may be used. Up to ten percent of a musical selection may also be used, but no more than thirty seconds is allowed. More than five pictures from one artist or photographer cannot be used, nor can more than ten percent or fifteen pictures of a single collection be used. Other rules and regulations can be found on the webpage listed above.