Copyright and Fair Use

I had a teacher ask me a question about using YouTube videos and excerpts of movies in a presentation.

I am aware of the copyright guidelines about the "10 percent or not more than 3 minutes --whichever is less" rule or the 'buy a license to show the video' rule, but have never really found the actual legal stand on copyright that is supported by YouTube.

I tell all my students that everything on the Internet is now considered copyrighted information, pictures, music, songs, etc., and if you did not create it, you do not own it. If you do not own it, you cannot use it without permission.

Searching the web, I found some great information from the Walsh University Library.

Everything on YouTube is copyrighted to the person who created and then uploaded the video. (http://libanswers.walsh.edu/a.php?qid=91329)

As an educator, can you upload a YouTube video into your course content? Yes...as long as you link to the YouTube video or embed it. (http://libanswers.walsh.edu/a.php?qid=144520)

Please remember that it is import to give the proper attribution to any work you use that is not your own. Find out how to cite YouTube videos here.

You can find additional information about using videos that contain copyright materials here.

I hope I have helped make this mountain of information about copyright and movies a little clearer.