Podcasting Archives

Using copyrighted materials in podcasts

Instructors who receive an Adaptation award for podcasting will be utilizing an area of the Apple iTunes Music Store to deliver podcast files to students.  Students will access the files in the iTunes Music Store via a link from the course Learn@UW site.  Logging into Learn@UW involves an authentication step that will limit access to registered students.  Once they access them, students can download the podcasted files. 

If your podcast contains content that should not circulate beyond registered students, such as copyrighted material created by others, you should explain to students that these downloaded files should not be shared with others outside the course.

In addition, if you are considering inclusion of copyrighted audio works by others in your podcast, you should: 

    •  seek permission from the owner(s) of the work(s) or
    •  determine if the use of the work(s) you are planning fits the following four criteria for educational "fair use:”
      1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
      2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
      3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
      4. The effect of the use upon the potential market value of the copyrighted work

The following resources provide more detailed explanations and information about fair use of copyrighted materials:

    1. The United States Copyright Office
    2. The University of Minnesota’s Copyright Information and Education site, which includes an online “Copyright Decision Map” and a “Fair Use Analysis Tool” that can help you make more informed decisions.
    3. Bound By Law? (Tales from the Public Domain)
      Scholars at the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain have created a highly readable comic book that covers many issues involved in fair use.

Updated: February 21st, 2007

Copyrighting your podcasts

Thinking about copyrighting your podcast? You may want to license it through the United States Copyright Office or the Creative Commons organization.

    1. The United States Copyright Office, offers information about provisions of US copyright laws and serves as a registry for licensing copyrights for individual works.
    2. The Creative Commons is a nonprofit group that offers licenses that protect the rights of the owner of original works while encouraging some uses of them by others