A quick guide to copyright
What is copyright?
Copyright protects the owner of an original work of authorship against unauthorized us of his/her work. In a newspaper, this includes news stories, opinion pieces, photos, ads, cartoons and graphics. Generally, it is OK for a paper to quote short passages from a copyrighted story in another publication, as long as proper attribution is give. The general guideline is that the passage quoted should not be more than 10 percent of the total work.
Copyright does not protect titles, short phrases, slogans, ideas or procedures. It also doesn’t protect facts. For instance, if the Chicago Tribune reports that President Bush has signed a welfare reform bill, and you know that to be true, you can write “President Bush signed a welfare reform bill Monday,” without attributing that information to anyone. But if the Tribune quotes him and you want to use that quote, you must attribute it: “This bill will help reduce the strain on the backs of the working class people,” Bush told the Chicago Tribune.
How can I use copyrighted material?
Consent: Getting written permission from the copyright holder. When in doubt, do this.
Fair use: The Copyright Act gives four factors to determine what can be used without the copyright holder’s permission.
- The purpose: Are you making a profit off the material you’re using? If so, you’ll be held to a closer scrutiny.
- The nature of the copyrighted work. Some works are closer than others to the core of what the law was intended to protect. A unique work of fiction, for example, will receive greater protection than a news story that is covered by many reporters.
- How much of the work, in relation to the whole, are you using? Again, 10 percent has been the rule of thumb for what’s allowable (remember to attribute it).
- The effect of the use on the potential market for the copyright holder. Did your use of the material make it harder for them to sell the original? If so, it probably wasn’t fair use.
What about cartoons? Sometimes, a cartoonist uses images from popular cartoons in their own cartoons. Example: A Clarion cartoonist depicts Beavis and Butt-head joking about an MATC issue. This qualifies for fair use if it passes two essential tests for cartoon parodies:
- You can’t use more of an original work than necessary to evoke thoughts of the original in the viewer’s mind. An exact duplicate puts you in risky territory for copyright violation.
- You work can’t directly affect the market value of the original work. No one should be willing to buy the parody as a substitute for the original work.
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