OEC Copyright, Fair Use & Intellectual Property 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When an online educator posts a copyrighted article in a password-protected LMS accessible only to enrolled students, this practice is best described as:
- A clear copyright violation that always requires written permission
- Potentially permissible under fair use or the TEACH Act depending on the circumstances (Correct answer)
- Legal only if the educator personally purchased a single copy
- Automatically protected by academic freedom in all cases
Correct answer: Potentially permissible under fair use or the TEACH Act depending on the circumstances
Posting materials in a closed, password-protected LMS accessible only to enrolled students may qualify as fair use or comply with the TEACH Act, though educators should still evaluate the four fair use factors.
Question 2: A work is considered to be in the 'public domain' when:
- It has been posted publicly on the internet by anyone
- Its copyright has expired or the work was never protected by copyright (Correct answer)
- The creator has granted public access through a social media platform
- It was created by a contractor working for any government
Correct answer: Its copyright has expired or the work was never protected by copyright
Works enter the public domain when their copyright expires, when the creator waives rights, or when the work was never eligible for copyright protection — they can then be used freely by anyone.
Question 3: Which Creative Commons license is considered the most restrictive?
- CC BY
- CC BY-SA
- CC BY-NC-ND (Correct answer)
- CC BY-NC
Correct answer: CC BY-NC-ND
CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives) is the most restrictive Creative Commons license because it prohibits both commercial use and derivative works, only allowing verbatim sharing with attribution.
Question 4: The DMCA 'safe harbor' provision protects educational institutions from copyright infringement liability when:
- Faculty post any educational materials online for student access
- The institution has no knowledge of infringing activity and promptly removes content upon valid notification (Correct answer)
- Students access copyrighted materials exclusively for personal study
- The institution holds a valid site license for all software it uses
Correct answer: The institution has no knowledge of infringing activity and promptly removes content upon valid notification
The DMCA safe harbor shields institutions from liability for user-uploaded infringing content if they have no knowledge of the infringement and promptly remove it upon receiving a valid takedown notice.
Question 5: An online educator wants to use a copyrighted photograph in a course presentation. Under which circumstance would this most likely qualify as fair use?
- The educator finds the image through a general web search engine
- The educator uses a small, low-resolution version for commentary or critical analysis (Correct answer)
- The educator's institution has a subscription to a stock photo service for other images
- The photograph was taken more than ten years ago
Correct answer: The educator uses a small, low-resolution version for commentary or critical analysis
Using a small portion of a work (low-resolution image) for commentary, criticism, or education weighs in favor of fair use because it is transformative and does not substitute for the original.
Question 6: What is the key difference between copyright infringement and plagiarism?
- Copyright infringement is illegal; plagiarism is always completely legal
- Copyright infringement violates legal rights; plagiarism violates academic and ethical standards of attribution (Correct answer)
- Plagiarism applies only to students; copyright infringement applies only to educators
- They are legally identical terms used in different professional contexts
Correct answer: Copyright infringement violates legal rights; plagiarism violates academic and ethical standards of attribution
Copyright infringement is a legal violation of an author's exclusive rights, while plagiarism is an ethical/academic violation involving presenting others' ideas as one's own — they can overlap but are distinct concepts.
Question 7: Which of the following works is automatically in the public domain in the United States?
- A novel published in 1990 whose author died in 2020
- A document created by a U.S. federal government employee in the scope of their official duties (Correct answer)
- A song recorded in 1980 that has never been commercially released
- A photograph posted on social media without any copyright notice
Correct answer: A document created by a U.S. federal government employee in the scope of their official duties
Works created by U.S. federal government employees as part of their official duties are not eligible for copyright protection and are automatically in the public domain.
OEC Copyright, Fair Use & Intellectual Property 2
When an online educator posts a copyrighted article in a password-protected LMS accessible only to enrolled students, this practice is best described as: