Understanding Copyright and Fair Use
I think understanding the copyright
laws and the fair use policies are one of the more difficult aspects about
being a teacher. It is very easy to find
a great website, book, music, or whatever and incorporate it into the
curriculum.
The following scenarios were presented in an
assignment. I have been assigned to use
them to help you (and me) understand the copyright laws and fair use policies.
Following the assignment, you will find some outstanding Web pages that may be
used to help you better understand copyright laws and fair use policies.
Scenario A: You find an outstanding World Wide Web
site on the Internet and want your web page to contain some of the glittering
wonderfulness of this site. You download and use part of the Web page.
In this scenario a teacher may obtain images or
information from the Web, but it must only be a part of the whole and it must
be for educational use, not to spruce up his/her own Web page even is she/he
does cite the site..
Scenario B: A teacher in your school (who has a really rowdy
bunch of monsters) makes an agreement with them that they learn how to make
PowerPoint presentations on sports, war, hunting, rock music, and such. She
lets them get graphics from anywhere on the Internet. She recommends sites such
as Sports Illustrated, ESPN, DOD, and
Rock Music Hall of Fame. They make great presentations and become great kids.
What are the copyright implications?
These two situations (Scenario A & B) are similar
in that they are gathering images from the Web. According to Hall Davidson, it
is okay to use Web images “for student projects and teacher lessons.” He warns that neither the teacher nor
students may “repost” the images back to the web without permission. Be sure to demonstrate and require that the
students cite
the Internet sources.
Scenario C: Mr. Jamweimer,
the parent of one of your most intellectual students, has paid to download a
wonderful computer software program for his little Einstein. Mr. Jamweimer wants "our school" to be the best and
sends a copy of the downloaded file to be used by the students on the computers
at school. P.S. all of the kids use it and win Nobel prizes in science,
literature, physics, chemistry, and playground.
Aren’t parents wonderful? You cannot do this (especially if you have
the tech guy we have). It is against the
law to copy copyrighted works and give it to someone to use publicly. You are denying the owner of financial gain
and we may not do that. A site license
would need to be purchased for multiple users and you must only use the program
on the number of computers and/or people specified by the license.
Scenario
D: Mrs. Urdvardy, a
music teacher, downloads MP3 files from the Web and uses them to instruct her
students in the various kinds of music. She allows students to copy the files
and take them home, listen to them, and complete a worksheet.
This
is a tricky area. Davidson is adamant
that “Educators may use ‘legitimately acquired’ material without asking
permission.” He also warns that not all
MP3 Web sites are legitimate, so we must be careful as to where we obtain these
files. “You can check copyright
ownership at www.loc.gov or www.mpa.org” (Davidson). Here’s something I didn’t know, “MP3.com pays
for its archives, so the material there is legitimately acquired” (Davidson).
According to Linda Starr, “Most copyright experts recommend
this rule of thumb -- when in doubt, assume a work is copyrighted and ask
permission to use it. Don't make the
common mistake of believing that including quotation marks or a line of
attribution satisfies copyright requirements. If you properly quote and/or credit a work's
author, experts say, you cannot be accused of plagiarism, but you may still be
accused of copyright infringement.”
“Copyright Resources on the Internet.” 26 Feb. 2002. Groton Public Schools. 19 Oct. 2004. <http://groton.k12.ct.us/mts/pt2a.htm>
Davidson,
Hall. “The
Educator’s Guide to Copyright and Fair Use.”
Starr, Linda. “The Educator's
Guide to Copyright and Fair Use.” 07 May 2003. Education
World. http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr280a.shtml
Submitted
by R. Justice
McDaniel
College SLM521 (fall 04)