What
Kate A. Thompson's article "Copyright 101" gives a broad overview of how copyright and fair use laws apply to teachers. It gives examples of how textbooks, videos and journal articles may or may not fall under fair use guidelines. Kate A. Thompson is a lawyer from Oregon who specializes in business law. This presumably gives her some insight into the laws regarding copyright and fair use.
In many cases, the law is common sense. For example, a teacher cannot make photocopies of an expensive textbook and distribute them to his students. This harms the publisher of the book and subjects the teacher to a lawsuit. However, a teacher may copy one article from a magazine for his students, so long as it serves an educational purpose.
So What
The articles, video or audio that a person creates is their intellectual property. In many cases, it serves as a legacy of their mind. It is ethically wrong to take intellectual property generated by another person and use it for yourself without providing credit.
It is important for teachers to respect copyright and fair use laws, as it models good digital citizenship for their students. More importantly, violations of copyright laws by teachers can expose themselves and the school they work for to expensive lawsuits from copyright holders.
Now What?
As a result of reading this article, I am more likely to consider how copyright and Fair Use laws affect my ability to use media in the classroom. I do not want to get sued and lose all of my hard-earned money. As an educator, I will seek to follow all applicable copyright and fair use laws and encourage my students to learn and follow these guidelines as well.
Source:
Thompson, K. A. (2005). Copyright 101. Learning & Leading With Technology, 32(7), 10-12. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Store/Product?ID=1556
Dylan I think this is really important for teachers to understand. Every class teachers push the issue of plagiarism. It is a huge deal in the academic world. It can scar students and teachers careers if they do plagiarize. As up and coming teachers we must remember that any thing we use in our lectures have to me cited. Unless of course it is our own research or general knowledge. I have seen many teachers make PowerPoint’s and never site their information. I am not sure how they can do this, but I as an educator aim to make certain all information is properly cited. And with the copy right laws as teachers we need to make sure proper care is taken when copying materials for our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteVery informative post! I did not read this but I am glad I was able to read your blog about it. I too think this is extremely important for all educators and future educators such as ourselves to know. I assume this is difficult as teachers want to share the resources they have to their students without them having to purchase an expensive book or program. Regardless, I agree that educators must be responsible and aware of the issues surrounding copyright.
ReplyDeleteDylan, you are so right about teaching our students about plagarism, but as Charles mentions, teachers usually don't seem to play by the same rules. I have seen many teachers who use other people's work in handouts and Power Points and never cite where they got the information. I know that as a future teacher, I will be very careful about falling into the pattern of using someone's work without giving them credit for it. If we, as teachers, do that, we cannot expect our students to not cite their sources. It's not a "do as I say, not as I do" situation.
ReplyDeleteDylan, I agree with what you and this article says. It is definitely common sense not to download and use material that is not yours. Not only will you be sued but the school district will likely fire you, so not only will you lose money in the lawsuit you will not have a job to make the money you lost. Digital citizenship is a new concept and is constantly building. I remember when Napster came out and people were going nuts downloading all the free music they wanted. This has obviously changed today.
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