Can I Use That?: Fair Use and Copyright for your Educational Video

So you have decided to make an educational video. You have a great storyboard drawn up. You have taken lots of footage. And you have found some great stuff on the Internet that will really help you make your point. The question is: Can I use that in the video I am creating for my students? What can students use in videos they produce? The answer can be complicated. Use the checklist below to help you determine whether you can freely use the material, or whether you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holder.

Reproducing or including a copyrighted work in a lesson, lecture, or video is considered “fair use” if you can answer yes to these questions:

• Purpose of the work--

Is this for an educational or non-profit project including student or faculty portfolios, course work, workshops, or self-study?

Does the inclusion of the material transform the original significantly?

• Nature of the work--

Is the work published?

Is the work out of print?

Is the work factual?

• Proportion of the material used--

Is it a small portion of a work or collection?

Is it a less significant portion of the work?

For motion media, is it less than 10% or three minutes?

For text, is it less than 10% or 1,000 words?

For music, lyrics, and music videos, is it less than 10% or 30 seconds?

For illustrations or photographs, is it five or fewer images from one artist or photographer? Or 10% or 15 or fewer images from a collection?

For numerical data sets, is it less than 10% or 2,500 fields from a database?

Are you making two or fewer copies?

• Effect on the market--

Is this for a different audience than the original work?

If you answered no to any of the questions, contact the copyright holder for permission to use the material. Here is a sample permission request from University of Maryland University College.

Even if you determine material is fair use, you must still cite it properly in your project.

When planning a video or multimedia assignment, be sure to include instruction on copyright with your students. Cyberbee offers an interactive page that answers questions about use of copyrighted material for student projects.