Copyright Issues


Can I use my own photograph of a public place in a course if it contains artwork, such as a sculpture?

You've taken a photograph of a public place such as a park and now you'd like to use this image in your course materials. However, you then notice that it has a sculpture in it. Does this mean you can't use the photograph because of copyright protecting the sculpture?

According to CIPPIC (n.d.), the answer is that it depends on whether this artwork is on permanent display or is part of a temporary exhibit. If it is a permanent fixture of the place, then you are free to photograph it and to publish the photo. If the latter is the case, fair dealing exceptions may apply, but you shouldn't automatically assume you can use the image.

It may also depend on how central it is to the photographic composition. CIPPIC notes that, "the Copyright Act does provide specific protection for the incidental inclusion of another work, such as for a billboard advertisement visible in the background of your photograph. Any work that 'incidentally and not deliberately' includes another work does not infringe copyright."

For more information on copyright and photography, check out this page.

CIPPIC. (n.d.). Copyright and Privacy in Photography. Retrieved on November 7, 2021 from https://cippic.ca/en/FAQ/Photography_Law
 

Can I show TED Talks in the classroom or include them in an online course?

The TED organization encourages teachers to share TED Talks with their students. Use of the talks is governed by a Creative Commons license that sets out certain conditions for non-commercial uses of TED Talks. They can be used under a Creative Commons License (CC BY–NC–ND 4.0), which set out certain conditions and limitations. 

According to the TED website, “You can stream TED Talks from TED.com or from TED’s official YouTube channel, as long as you comply with the terms of the Creative Commons license...”. The website also tells educators to, ‘feel free to share links to TED.com or TED’s official YouTube channel with students on online forums or class websites.’

The conditions of the Creative Commons license mean that teachers:
• must ‘include an attribution to TED as the owner of the TED Talk’. 
• cannot use the TED Talk for commercial purposes. 
• Are not allowed to alter or edit the video in any way, including by adding voice-overs or unauthorized translations. 

If embedding a video on your site, you must:
• use the embeddable TED player.
• ‘attribute TED as the owner of the TED Talk and add a visible link back to TED.com.’ 
• run / include the entire video—you cannot include just a portion or clip of the video.

For more information, check this webpage on the TED.com website outlining the conditions for using TED Talks.

TED Talks Usage Policy, (n.d.). TED.com. Retrieved November 21, 2021 from https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy#h2--commercial-corporate-use

Who owns the copyright to photos or videos that have been posted to Facebook?

This may be a relevant question for any educators that use Facebook within their classes. It is a 'fact' oft repeated that once one posts a photograph or video to Facebook, the platform becomes the owner of the content. 

However, Mohr (2019) reassures us that Facebook does not take ownership of photos or other content that is posted to its platform. However, Facebook does require certain limited rights to duplicate your images or videos. According to Section 3.3.1 of Facebook's Terms of Service, 'if you share a photo on Facebook, you give us permission to store, copy and share it with others (again, consistent with your settings) such as service providers that support our service or other Facebook Products you use.'

Mohr suggests that the reason for this is that Facebook needs to hold a copy of your images on global servers 'so that they can be retrieved everywhere at the same speed.' (Mohr, 2019).


Terms of Service. (2020, October 22). Facebook.com. Retrieved on November 21, 2021 from https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/plain_text_terms















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