Images and copyright.

Teachers regularly download images from the Web for personal and classroom use. The original creators of these images can easily be ignored, but they shouldn't be. It may take some scrolling and clicking at the site, but finding who holds rights to works is not only considered professional etiquette, but is necessary for lawful use.

If you are a teacher or student using these images only for a classroom project, do copyright rules apply to you? It depends. What needs to be determined is based on the fair use provisions of the United States Copyright Act of 1976. Factors found in section 107 of this act need to be considered: "Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phono-records or by any other means specified in that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."

Based on the above statement, art educators assume teaching allows copyrighted text and images to be used in their classrooms. Does this mean, however, that their students can then manipulate a copyrighted image for classroom use?

Let's consider and examine four additional factors in the copyright act to determine fair use of a copyrighted image:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.

Experimenting with copyrighted images from the Internet in a contained classroom project seems innocent enough for educational purposes. However, what if the completed project was submitted to a contest as an original work of art? Thoughts of Andy Warhol paintings come to mind. Did he have clearance from the Campbell's Soup Company before hanging those paintings in a gallery? Consider the next factor.

2. The nature of the copyrighted work.

It could be that the Campbell's Soup Company was flattered with the attention provided by Andy Warhol's painting. Immortalizing this everyday grocery store item as a work of fine art elevated the Campbell's Soup can to a place in history as an American popular culture icon. The nature of the copyrighted design of the soup can was to ensure purchase of a quality soup product. Warhol's use of the soup can design did not jeopardize this objective. What does the copyright statement actually say about the image your student is using? Is the nature of the image damaged by the student's manipulation of it? Does it matter if the original image is identifiable? Yes, if you consider the next factor.

3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.

If students use only a portion of the original image or distort the image to an extreme degree, more than likely, it will be acceptable in the eyes of the law. The clarity of right and wrong is ambiguous. Postmodern artists continually debated this factor. Many times, only a court of law will give a final determination.

4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.

Warhol's portrayal of the soup can contributed in a positive financial way to the Campbell's soup market. What can you say about your students' altered images? Let us go back to the idea of students' work being submitted to an art contest. If they win a cash prize, are they making money from another person's copyrighted image? What if the image is so well received that it is then highlighted on the cover of SchoolArts magazine? Up to this time, the holder of the copyright may not have noticed the image. Now, in the broader public eye, with possible money to be made, the original owners take offense and sue. Again, it may be only a court of law that can determine if inappropriate lines have been crossed.

When working with your students, you may not be able to make a clear judgment call on the use of all images they access. You and your students will need to be aware of the risks they are taking. To play it safe there are three ways to proceed--strongly consider using only public domain material, get the owner's written permission to use an image, or find the creator's statement of permitted use and closely follow its stipulations.

As downloading of images from the Internet increases, art educators need to keep a global standard of respect for all people's images and how they are interpreted within a classroom environment. The importance of instilling this standard of respect and lawful use in our students is critical in making them aware of copyright laws now and in the future.

Nancy Webber is a doctoral student in the Art Education Program at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. [e-mail]

WEB LINKS

The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. (2001). Copyright Kids. www.copyrightkids.org

Indiana University (2002-2003). Intellectual Property Fair Use--Higher Ed. www.copyright.iupui.edu

Stanford University (2003). Copy right and Fair Use. fairuse.stanford.edu

Sundt, Christine L., University of Oregon Libraries (May 22, 2003). Copyright and Art Issues. darkwing.uoregon.edu/~csundt/ copyweb/

United States Copyright Office--Library of Congress (2003). www.copyright.gov