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Copyright and Web Publishing - Details

Q. What is Copyright?

A. Very simply, copyright asserts the author’s right to control the use of his or her original work.

Q. If there’s no copyright marked on the page, can I use it?

A. No – not without permission. The international "Berne copyright convention" safeguards authors by assuming everything is copyright by default – i.e. unless otherwise stated

Q. If I change a graphic substantially, does it become my work?

A. No. Your work must be original although it can be inspired (but not derived) by another’s work. It becomes almost impossible to prove that the graphic you modified, re-coloured, put new ears on etc. was originally someone else’s. However, your conscience should be your guide and if this doesn’t work, electronic watermarking (hidden tagging of online images) should persuade you otherwise!

Q. My use is for educational and non-profit use. Surely this allows me some latitude.

A. Certainly. If your copying is for the purpose of dissemination of the original (with author cited etc.), or for review or for research and so on, then this is generally allowed, as it is for paper publication.

Q. They wouldn’t sue a school … would they?

A. Sensible judgement using the above guidelines will ensure this question is never answered!

Q. How should I encourage copyright awareness in the classroom

A. There are two dimensions to this answer. One is that teachers should always encourage pupils to sign their work, text, pictures and so on. This increases their awareness that their work is personally unique in the world and will enhance their self-esteem as well as help them appreciate others’ work.

The other dimension is simple instruction. Tell pupils never to copy an author’s text or image, except in the case of provided clip art. When in doubt, enquiries to the teacher should be welcomed and discussed.

Warning: Current classroom habits of "cutting and pasting" where children plagiarise for personal projects run the risk of creating a lowest common denominator information society where information and knowledge become even more disconnected..