Just what is
copyright?
Copyright is a type of protection given to anyone who creates original
work. Whenever you draw a picture, write a story, poem or even a musical
piece, you automatically own the copyright to it. That means that only
you have control over what happens to your work. No one else can copy
it or use it in any other way without your permission.
This is true of any published materials. Schools may use portions of copyrighted materials under a doctrine called, "Fair Use." For more information about Copyright and "Fair Use," please take a look at these web sites:
http://library.thinkquest.org/J001570/Copyrightinfo.html
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf
Citing Sources
It is very important that you give credit to the author for materials that you use.
That's called "citing" your source. Images that you decide to use in a presentation
must be cited. The only exception would be clip art available in Microsoft
Word or PowerPoint. Any items you find on the Web or you scanned from a print
source should have credit given to the owner of the copyrighted
work.
As a general rule, the following
elements are needed in a citation:
Author, last name first.
Title of Book (underlined).
City of Publication:
Publisher, date of publication.
Here are some great web sites that shows
how to compile a bibliography by grade level:
http://www.hobbyhorsebooks.com/biblio.html
http://nausetschools.org/research/works2.htm
Here are some links to sites that will help you to create a citation:
http://elementary.oslis.org/resources/cm/mlacitationse
http://www.english.eku.edu/mla/
Would you like to take a quiz on copyright? Click here.
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