Jayme Jaramillo

Copyright Activity

Scenerio #1:

A teacher in your school (who has a really rowdy bunch of monsters) makes an agreement with them that they learn how to make power point presentations on sports, war, hunting, rock music and such. She lets them get graphics from anywhere on the Internet. Sites such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN. DOD, Rock Music Hall of Fame. They make great presentations and become great kids. What are the copyright implications??

This teacher is utilizing technology to engage students; however, the teacher must also introduce students to copyright laws. As students are allowed to download images, etc. for their power point presentations and for educational use, they must give appropriate credit by clearly stating where the information was obtained, credit the source, and note copyright information. On the students opening screen, they should also state that the project contains copyrighted material. It is important to note that no more than 2 copies of the students’ work can be printed. This teacher can engage the students, while teaching them about necessary copyright laws.

Scenerio #2:

Mr. Hamer is tutoring for the functional writing test out of a copyrighted series of work books from Houghtin Mifflin. He has 27 students but only 20 books were purchased for his class. The same material is available at the HM web page. She prints enough pages for her kids each morning for today's class.

Although Mr. Hamer is only copying portions of the text, he still needs to follow correct copyright procedures. He needs to identify the importance of the work. Although the work is in the public domain, he still cannot reproduce it without permission. This is a common act among teachers, but it can be a risky mistake. Educational groups still need to follow copyright laws. The copied work must not be altered or edited. My advice – have students share books to avoid any lawsuits!