In this rapid pace world of instructional design so many designers spend hours learning new software, reading about current research trends and exploring new interactive activities to produce cutting edge designs. Yet, we should be spending just as much time researching and applying the most current copyright regulations which can affect your product as quickly as the current trends.
Once you visit the U.S. Copyright Office there are numerous documents that can affect your training materials. Let’s just highlight a few:
a. Did you know there are specific steps for copyrighting multimedia works?
b. Do you know all the educational guidelines for copyright that allow educators to reproduce documents for classroom use? How do these copyright regulations apply to internet materials and linkage?
c. Are you aware that there are privacy and publicity rights affecting your rights to photographs with human subjects unless you have secured a release?
d. How many of you are linking directly to YouTube for instructional materials? Did you know that if you sell or gain income from those training materials the copyright changes?
Look above your head right now. If there is a big question mark there because your mind is reviewing all of the training materials you’ve developed for the past five years as you try to remember if you violated any copyright regulations, you are a good candidate for a daily visit to the U.S. Copyright Office.
Your Prescription:
Take ten minutes a day to explore: http://www.copyright.gov/
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