About this course: Fear and uncertainty about copyright law often plagues educators and sometimes prevents creative teaching. This course is a professional development opportunity designed to provide a basic introduction to US copyright law and to empower teachers and librarians at all grade levels. Course participants will discover that the law is designed to help educators and librarians.
Created by: Duke University, Emory University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Taught by: Kevin Smith, M.L.S., J.D., Director, Copyright and Scholarly Communication
Duke University Libraries
Taught by: Lisa A. Macklin, J.D.,M.L.S., Director, Scholarly Communications Office
Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University
Taught by: Anne Gilliland, JD, MLS, Scholarly Communications Officer
University Libraries, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| Commitment | 2-3 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Welcome to Copyright Law
Thank you for joining Copyright for Educators and Librarians! Our goal is to provide participants with a practical framework for analyzing copyright issues that they encounter in their professional work. We use a lot of real life examples—some of them quite co...
1 video, 4 readings
WEEK 2
A Framework for Thinking about Copyright
In the U.S., copyright is first and foremost a federal law passed by Congress under authority given it by the Constitution, where it says that Congress is allowed to pass laws to (among other things) promote the progress of science and the useful arts by secur...
9 videos, 3 readings
Graded: History of Copyright
Graded: A Limited Monopoly
Graded: Authorship
WEEK 3
Owning Rights
For this module, we will discuss copyright ownership and what it means in an educational context. We will also discuss the public domain, the first sale doctrine, and the idea/expression dichotomy. This last concept—that creative expression can be copyrighted...
8 videos, 3 readings
Graded: Owning Copyright
Graded: Limitations on Ownership
WEEK 4
Specific Exceptions for Teachers and Librarians
This module will cover specific exceptions in copyright law for libraries and educational instruction as outlined in Section 110(1) of the U.S. Copyright Law. The module will examine how this law applies to in-class and online instruction as well as library le...
8 videos, 5 readings
Graded: Educational Performances
Graded: An Exception for Libraries
Graded: Licensing and Permission
WEEK 5
Understanding and Using Fair Use
Fair Use is one of the most powerful aspects of U.S. copyright law for educators and librarians. In this module, we help students define Fair Use and understand where and in what contexts the law applies. We also address international aspects of copyright.
12 videos, 8 readings
Graded: Final Quiz #1: About Copyright
Graded: Final Quiz #2: Issues Related to Teaching a Class
Graded: Final Quiz #3: Making and Reusing Student-made Films
FAQs
How It Works
Coursework
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
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Creators
Duke University
Duke University has about 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students and a world-class faculty helping to expand the frontiers of knowledge. The university has a strong commitment to applying knowledge in service to society, both near its North Carolina campus and around the world.
Emory University
Emory University, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of the world's leading research universities. Its mission is to create, preserve, teach and apply knowledge in the service of humanity.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is known around the world for innovative teaching and research. Regularly ranked as the nation’s best value for academic quality, UNC has produced the most Rhodes Scholars for the past 25 years among U.S. public research universities.
Ratings and Reviews
This course has been extremely helpful and increased my knowledge of copyright.
This was a very informative course that made something I otherwise thought was kind of boring very interesting.
I learned a lot about Copyright in the United States.
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The course is taught in a friendly manner by three charismatic teachers with backgrounds both in law \ and libraries. The content serves not only as an introduction to copyright law, but it also tackles some of the biggest conundrums affecting the area. Highly instructional and pragmatic.