Copyright and Schools

The resources on this page are designed to give shape to your knowledge about copyright and the school setting.  As the generally looked to expert on copyright for you school, these resources may be useful in answering questions from parents, staff, and students within your building.

PowerPoint for Professional Development session for LMS 3/15/04
FCPS Certified Employees Handbook. See pp50-56
FCPS Board Policies.  Use the search box in the top right corner to read Copyright Materials (8.2321).  Note: This online manual is not an official copy of the school board’s official policy/procedure manual. These documents may not contain the most recent changes made by the Board of Education. For an official copy of a policy or procedure, please contact the school district Central Office.

Copyright and Fair Use

Copyright Resources on the Internet - links collected by Groton Public Schools; Mystic, CT. an overview of the Copyright Act and Fair Use Guidelines as they relate to public schools' questions.
Copyright Crash Course - Check out the online tutorial and test on copyright. Older students can look under online Presentations/Students for information regarding student use of copyrighted materials. This website is also a great resource if you or your students want to protect media you have created.
Copyright Clearance Center - Find a link to get permission to reproduce copyrighted content such as articles and book chapters in your journals, photocopies, coursepacks, library reserves, Web sites, e-mail and more.
Copyright with Cyberbee - Elementary level friendly
Copyright for Educators - from the Internet School Library Media Center (ISLMC), find links to related sites.

Public Domain

Public Domain Music - “A reference site to help identify public domain songs and public domain music . . . royalty free music you can use anywhere and any way you choose . . . performance, sing-along, film, video, advertising, business, or personal.”  
Public Domain Pictures for Use in Multimedia Projects and Web Pages - collected and posted through Springfield Township High School Library; Pennsylvania.
Project Gutenberg. The Project Gutenberg project makes e-books and other materials available to the general public.
Bartleby.com Public domain texts online

Citations 

Citation Styles Online  - Find styles for citing internet information sources.  Included are the MLA and the APA styles for citing.
Easy Bib - A free online bibliography citation maker which adheres to the sixth version of MLA and the fifth version of APA. 
NoodleTools - has an advanced subscription for MLA and APA but also include a free NoodleBib Starter for Grades 1-5 and ESL.

Plagiarism 

Cut and Paste Plagiarism - Find information about preventing, detecting and tracking down plagiarism on the Web.
Plagerism.org  This site is designed to provide the latest information on online plagiarism and explain how the user portal, Turnitin.com, is now being used by educators to fight plagiarism. Turnitin.com is a pay service and a license must be purchased.