Lesson 2: Copyright Law and Graphics on the Web

Overview

In this lesson, you will read through an overview of copyright law and then participate in a group exercise. You will be presented with a number of web design scenarios in which copyright issues come into play.

Learner Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  1. determine if an image or graphic is protected by copyright law
  2. determine whether or not copyright law would allow an image to be used on a web page under different circumstances

Activities

  1. Read the web page Legal Aspects of Webdesign: Copyright to learn about how copyright impacts web design. Do you think images on the web are protected by copyright law?
  2. Review the interactive copyright questions and answers from the Cyberbee website. How might copyright law impact your use of graphics in web pages?
    NOTE: This resource is not currently accessible to screen reader users, or to anyone who can't use a mouse. Comparable, though less interactive, information is available on the website 10 Big Myths about copyright explained
  3. Break into small groups or pairs and review the Copyright Scenarios page. You will be presented with a number of scenarios and asked to decide to choose if the use is legal, illegal, or if more information is needed. Discuss the the answers with your group and prepare to discuss your opinion with the class.

Student Resources/Online documents

Additional Resources

All done?

Have one student serve as the reporter from your group and summarize your findings to the instructor. Explore the additional resources on your own if you want to find out more about copyright law.

When finished, proceed to the next module.