Can I get in trouble for embedding a social media post in an article on my school newspaper's website?
How Does Copyright Apply to Social Media Posts?
Anytime a person posts something to a social media website that person has created a piece of copyrighted material. Copyright is the legal way of saying that the creation of art - paintings, music, dance, writing, and social media posts - cannot be copied without the original creator’s permission.
However, there are exceptions to copyright law that allow others to use the copyrighted content fairly. One of the most common exceptions that allow student journalists to use copyrighted content fairly is the use of copyrighted content for educational purposes.
In the Copyright Act, there are six purposes listed that qualify a fair use:
- Criticism
- Comment
- News reporting
- Educational purposes
- Scholarship, or
- Research.
A school newspaper can avoid infringing someone’s copyright by pointing out that the copyrighted work used by the student journalist was used for educational purposes.
To meet the definition of educational purpose the copyrighted material must be used to educate a reader and cannot be reproduced by the writer or reader for commercial purposes. This falls squarely in the mission of a school. Basically, a high school teacher or a student can use another’s copyrighted work for an educational purpose because they intend to educate the viewers of the material and not make a profit off of it. An educational purpose might even extend to a public service announcement before summer break telling students to wear sunscreen to prevent skin cancer. Since you are writing for a free newspaper that is produced by an educational institution (your school) you should be all set!
Embed a Link to Give Credit
Still, there is an even more surefire way to fairly use someone’s copyrighted social media post in your journalistic work: embed the original post in your article!
Embedding is a great way to use someone’s copyrighted work when you can’t get their permission to do so. It gives credit to the original creator and uses their original content without infringing on their copyright.
Embedding is the process of adding a person’s copyrighted work - think social media post, online article, or online photograph - to your article with a link that takes the reader directly to the copyrighted work. You can do this by including a thumbnail or screen grab of the copyrighted work and adding a hyperlink that goes directly to the original work. That way you can use the copyrighted work for the purpose of your article and the creator of the work still gets credit for their original content!
While student journalists can usually use a copyrighted work fairly by using it for educational purposes at school, it’s best to embed the copyrighted work! This provides extra protection against the student journalist being accused of copyright infringement and gives the original creator credit for their work.
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