As schools increasingly take advantage of sophisticated technologies to enhance education, their need to understand basic copyright law becomes more urgent. This reference guide reviews the historical development of copyright, examines basic components, and analyzes exceptions to copyright owners' rights. Also covered are key areas such as photocopying, computer software, and off-air taping. Copyright provides authors with exclusive rights of reproduction, adaptation, publication, performance, and display of their materials. Authors may license one right for someone's use; this use does not extend to other rights. Copyright is not a property right granted in perpetuity. To promote the progress of the sciences and the arts, the 1976 Copyright Law made the duration of copyright the life of the author plus 50 years. Public domain and statutory exceptions covering fair use, school library use, performance, and public and instructional broadcasting are summarized. Questions and answers involving school applications are provided throughout the discussion and in the first appendix. Thirteen other appendices provide print, music, off-air taping, and interlibrary guidelines for educational institutions, along with federal forms for registering copyrights and sample school policies. (MLH)