Teaching Fair Use with Astronomy Imagery
What students need to know about copyright, plagiarism and fair use
Teresa Wilson1
1Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University
“Congress shall have the power… to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited
times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”
—US Constitution Article 1, Section 8
What is Copyright? Copyright is legal protection
automatically provided to authors of original works,
including literature, drama, music and art. In the case
of photographs, copyright gives photographers
exclusive right to reproduce their original work. Before
using any copyrighted images found online,
permission of the photographer should be obtained.
Without it, one might be guilty of copyright
infringement.1
What about Fair Use? Fair use is the limited
copying of copyrighted material for a “transformative”
use such as criticism or commentary. In this case,
permission does not need to be obtained from the
author.2 Educational purposes generally fall under fair
use, since the work is being used in a new context,
usually for commentary. In this poster, they provide an
opportunity to illustrate a new concept, and can be
considered being used for fair use purposes.
Where does Plagiarism fit in? Plagiarism is the use of another’s work without giving proper credit.
Proper citation ensures that ideas are attributed to the appropriate persons; however, it does not protect
against copyright infringement.3 Using a copyrighted image without permission or a good fair use case may
be considered copyright infringement.
“Pluto’s Colorful Composition”6
NASA images such as this one are not
copyrighted, but NASA still needs to
be acknowledged as the source.4
However, public domain or stock
images (such as the background of
this poster) do not need to be cited.
If the image is marked with the
photographer/organization’s
name, do not remove it. Even if
it’s not copyright infringement, it
could be considered plagiarism!
“Rosetta & Comet Outbound”5
This image was taken by a private
astrophotographer who gave APOD
permission to post the image on their
website; the astrophotographer retains
the copyright. Copying the image for
any purpose that does not fall under
Fair Use could be considered copyright
infringement, even if cited properly.
This includes posting images to
Facebook, or on a personal website.
I am not a lawyer. The content of this poster is based on my interpretation of the research I did on the subject.
Sources
1 "Teaching Copyright." Copyright Frequently Asked Questions. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/copyright-faq;
2 "What Is Fair Use?" Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center What Is Fair Use Comments. Stanford University Libraries., 04 Apr. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/ ;
3 "Using Images - Using Images: Copyright & Fair Use - LibGuides at MIT Libraries." Using Images - Using Images: Copyright & Fair Use - LibGuides at MIT
Libraries. MIT Libraries, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. http://libguides.mit.edu/c.php?g=176183&p=1158973;
4 "NASA Media Usage Guidlines." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html;
5Peach, Damian. Rosetta and Comet Outbound. Digital image. APOD. NASA, 28 Nov. 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151128.htm. Used with permission;
6Pluto's Colorful Composition. Digital image. New Horizons. NASA/Johns Hopkins Univ./Southwest Research Inst., 12 Aug. 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
Contact Information:
Teresa Wilson
tawilson@mtu.edu