A6.3:Copyright

Amanda Williams

September 28, 2007

Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources. (2005).Retrieved September 28, 2007, from, http://fairuse.stanford.edu/.

Harper, Georgia K. (2001).Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm.

TAP: These websites provide information about copyright to the general public, including students, parents, and educators. They were written with intentions of helping people better understand copyright laws.

Claim: Copyright laws allows users to claim and keep track of their work, only allowing who they choose to make use of it. Someone out there somewhere owns every little piece of work, including: music, poetry, journal articles, and even websites. In order to use someone else’s information one must either gain permission from the copyright owner or follow the limited fair use guidelines.

Evidence: A copyright is a legal agreement which means that anyone who does not follow copyright and fair use guidelines can and most likely will be legally pursued. Copyright and fair use guidelines can be difficult to understand and make sense of, but when you are not sure about copying, or using a portion of someone else’s work it is best to check with a copyright expert, or not use the material. Material which was published after 1977 has a copyright which lasts for the life of the author plus seventy more years, while material published before 1977 has different copyright laws which apply.

Connections: I have no experience with copyright laws and regulations whatsoever. My only related experience is through the reading of material which is copyrighted. I had no knowledge of copyright or fair use policies until reading through these websites. I am shocked at how much information is out there about copyrighting and fair use guidelines, and I am also shocked that I have never been exposed to it before. This would have been a good topic to discuss in my high school class called college prep. This material is important to know about, considering that infringing upon a copyright could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees.

I have not read any other articles which discuss copyright or fair use policies; however, I have read Marshall University’s Computing Services User Agreement which is outlined very similarly to these copyright laws and regulations. After reading the computing services agreement I learned several different “innocent” things which could be constituted as unfair use, or infringement of the user contract. One of those things was allowing someone else to use your user name and password to access computers at the university. This seems innocent and it may be;however, it is against the agreement and therefore should not be done. My experience with reading that agreement was very similar to my experience with the copyright laws, there were many different things that I had never thought about that are considered unfair use, and therefore could call for legal prosecution.

When it comes to how copyright will affect my life as a clinician or student clinician the application is simple. When conducting research, presenting material at a conference, writing a research paper, or even just adding music to a slide show copyright laws must be abided. You have to stop and think about who’s work you are using and if you are using it fairly according to the regulations of fair use. In writing documents as simple as this reading log it is important to consider these important facts.