Images in the Curriculum

Copyright Issues

Images on the web and on CD ROMs are generally copyrighted. Under “fair use” provisions of the copyright law, some copying and using of images is permitted for educational purposes. Though the law is not hard and fast, guidelines are offered at: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/library/faq.html
and at http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm

Fair use provisions of the copyright law allow for limited copying or distribution of published works without the author's permission in some cases. Examples of fair use of copyrighted materials include quotation of excerpts in a review or critique, or copying of a small part of a work by a teacher or student to illustrate a lesson.

“New issues about fair use have arisen with the increased use of the Internet. At the time of publication, a bill is pending in Congress concerning whether fair use provisions will be extended to appropriate users/uses of copyrighted Internet materials.” ( From the Fair Use segment at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/library/faq.html)
It is important to reference the owner of copyrighte materials when using them in the classroom. This credits the owner of the work approrpiately and models respect for copyright to students.

In our tutorials and tools about images, we support you in keeping track of the source of images for proper crediting.