Copyright Laws

v 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??

1. I believe that there are no copyright implications for the teacher or her students because under the “Guidelines for Educational Multimedia” students and teachers can use copyrighted materials as long as it is for educational purposes. However, they should credit the source from which they obtained the graphics. Students should only make one copy of the project and the copy should remain at school. Only 5- 10 graphics can be taken from a single site to avoid copyright infringements. However the copyright guidelines “specifically exempt K-6 students from adhering strictly to those portion limits.” Therefore I think the class and teacher may continue using graphics from sites to create educational PowerPoint for use at school.

v 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.

4. Mrs. Urdvardy, the music teacher, is violating copyright laws by allowing her students to take the music home. She may download music to use to educate her students at school but she may not make multiple copies. She may use the music for face to face instruction and direct student instruction. However, when students leave the classroom she no longer has direct control over how they use the MP3s. Copyright Laws also state that no more than 2 copies can be made. The creator may keep one and the other must be held in the library. By making copies for all of her students she would violate this law. A teacher may use it, but they may not spread it.