Social Responsibility
HANDOUT FROM
YOUR SCHOOL
LIBRARY MEDIA
SPECIALIST
To: ___________________
From: ________________
Posting Students’
Work to the Web
Rebecca P. Butler
rbutler@niu.edu
Volume 33/Number 4 • March/April 2005
“Social Responsibility” recognizes the importance of information and the teaching of
ethical behavior to a democratic society. This
series of columns explains copyright issues to
the clients of the school library media specialist: students, teachers, administrators,
parents, and community members.
Knowledge Quest
28
Rebecca P. Butler is an
Associate Professor in
School Library Media and
Instructional Technology
at Northern Illinois
University, DeKalb.
©2005 TK
As a middle school technical education instructor (your courses combine technology and
science), you are always on the lookout for
outstanding examples of student work to show
to future classes. One of your latest assignments
is to have students design and build model
airplanes. Charlie, a new student, is exceptional.
You cannot believe his design, and the fact that
after the plane was built, it really flew! You
would like to take Charlie’s design model and
post it on your technical education Web page.
Your idea is to use Charlie’s work as an exemplary, both for your current students (Charlie’s
contemporaries) and for future students viewing it as part of their class information in succeeding years.
Since your Web page is part of the school’s
Internet site, Charlie’s project is a class assignment, and Charlie, as a middle school student,
is a minor, your assumption is that you can take
his design, copy it to the Web, and use it for as
long as you like. After all, you are his teacher,
and this was done for a school project. You
believe that Charlie will feel complimented to
see his design on the technical education Web
page. However, you do recognize that it is also
possible he and his parents will not be happy to
see it there? Is copyright an issue with this
scenario? Can you post Charlie’s design on the
Internet the semester that he takes your class
(after all, his fellow students should also be
able to learn from his project)? Can you use his
design model as an exemplary for future
classes, without worrying about legalities? The
answers (below), as with much of that dealing
with copyright, are complex.
The answer to the first question, “Is copyright an issue here?” is a resounding “yes.” This
is a copyright issue. Whether officially registered with the U.S. Copyright Office or not,
almost any original work that any person
creates is automatically copyright-protected
under current United States law.1 This means
that Charlie, even if he is only a minor, owns the
copyright to all his original works, whether in a
school setting or not, including his model
airplane design. There is no age limit on who
can own or create a copyrighted work.2 Thus,
you know that Charlie’s design is copyrighted.
Does this mean that you cannot use his work on
your Web site?
Under copyright law, one who borrows or
copies another’s works can usually do so after
obtaining permission from the owner or creator
of a work. “Minors may claim copyright, and
the Copyright Office issues registrations to
minors . . .”3 This means that Charlie has the
right to say that you can or cannot use his
original design model on your Web site. On the
other hand, should you wish to purchase the
design from Charlie, because he is a minor, you
would need to check with the laws of your state
to determine how this would be accomplished.4
Now, before you decide that asking Charlie
in class will be easy, remember, once again, that
he is a minor. Because this is the case, also ask
his parents or guardians for permission to use
his work. Although copyright law does not
specifically say that parents or guardians must
be asked when seeking copyright permission
from a minor owner, your school may have a
policy requiring that you do so. “Permission is a
license . . . [and] . . . often used in certain
settings, such as school . . .” 5 A license is
contract law, and contract law supersedes
copyright law.6 Thus, you must follow the contract law first.
This is getting confusing! How can you use
this design model as an exemplary without
worrying about legalities, as well as without
spending an extensive amount of time researching and reading policies and law? The bottom
line, whether the Internet posting of Charlie’s
design is for future semesters or for the semester in which Charlie is taking the class, is that
you need to obtain permission from both
Charlie and his parents before using it. If they
agree, you are fine; if one of them disagrees,
don’t upload Charlie’s model airplane design to
your Web site.
For further help, consult your school
library media specialist. z
1.
2.
4.
5.
6.
29
Volume 33/Number 4 • March/April 2005
3.
For information on officially registering
your work(s), see the U.S. Copyright Office
Web site <www.copyright.gov>. Accessed
21 Nov. 2004.
Rebecca P. Butler, Copyright for Teachers
and Librarians (New York: NealSchuman, 2004).
U.S. Copyright Office, Who Can Register?
2004, <www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faqwho.html>. Accessed 21 Nov. 2004.
Ibid.
USlegalforms.com, Permissions Law and
Legal Definition, 2004, <www.uslegalforms.com/lawdigest/legaldefinitions.php/US/US-PERMISSIONS.htm>.
Accessed 21 Nov. 2004.
Butler, Copyright for Teachers and
Librarians.
Knowledge Quest
References and Notes