Laura Adams
SLM 521
June 2002
Copyright
Copyright laws are
complicated and confusing. They were established
with the intention of protecting the rights of the creator, are in effective as
soon as the work is produced, and no copyright label need be displayed. With the introduction of many new sources of
information including websites, software programs, etc. the guidelines become
more difficult to manage. The purpose of this assignment is to research
copyright law, evaluate two scenarios and discuss the specific aspects of the
law associated with each.
SCENARIO 1 –
Situation: You create a web link to the CBS - David
Letterman Web page, the Right to Life and the Right to Choice web pages on your
school's home page. Your principal instructs you to remove them from the
schools links.
Evaluation: When a link is created to a website the
information on that site has not been copied, it has been referred to. In this scenario, the principal has not asked
you to remove the links for copyright infractions but for acceptability
issues. These sites are not appropriate
choices for your school’s home page and must be removed.
SCENARIO 2 –
Situation: Mr. Jamweimer, the parent
of one of our 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 download 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.
Evaluation: In this scenario, Mr. Jamweimer has purchased
the downloaded software which then categorizes it as commercial software. Commercial software is covered by copyright. In fact, all software is considered copyright at
its creation and no software has been around long enough for it to have passed
into public domain. There is some software
that is in the public domain at the discretion of its owner and it is clearly
identified. The law states that you can
make one copy of commercial software for use as a backup only if the original
is not functioning. It also states that
you cannot make copies of commercial software and distribute them to anyone,
including teachers or schools. In
addition, Mr. Jamweimer does not own software; he holds the license to use it
and must abide by licensing agreement. Although
his intentions were good and the outcome of his actions amazing, Mr. Jamweimer
has broken the law.
For additional information on this topic
Education World’s –
Copyrights and Copying Wrongs – This site contains and easy to understand
guide for educators with many useful links.
Last visited June 2002. http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr280a.shtml
Copyright Kids – Resource to use to educate
students on copyright issues. The site
is easy to understand and provides activities to use during instruction. Last visited June 2002.
http://www.copyrightkids.org/