Are you unsure of whether you are violating the copyright laws? Here are a few examples of common situations people face when they use other people’s materials. For more examples and information about copyright laws, visit these sites:
Ten Common Copyright
Permission Myths – http://www.copylaw.com/articles/copy_myths.html
Take the Copyright
Quiz – http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2002/10/copyright_quiz.html
Carol Simpson
Copyright 101 - http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/0112/simpson.html
Piracy – http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/QltyPages/Qlty/Etiq.html
Scenario #1
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.
This would not be legal under
copyright law. The download was paid for
only by the parent and was not paid for use by the school. By the description above, the program was
meant for individual use only and to be paid for that use, not to be
distributed for others to use, even if it is for educational use. I would thank the parent for the offer and
look into the purchase of the program for individual use at the school. It is legal to download onto our network as
long as it is clear that multiple-use is not activated in the school. If it is
requested for this in the future, you must purchase site use from the
company. If it is that good a program,
it may be worth your while to make the purchase.
Scenario #2
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,
Assuming
that the presentations are of an educational focus with certain educational
requirements for the class, then this would be an
appropriate use of materials. Students
must be aware that they need to site the copyright and source for each of the
items they download. They should also
not download complete materials, like music.
Instead they should follow copyright rules to download ten percent or
less of the materials for use. These
presentations should not be posted on a non-secure web site nor should they be
copied for others to use.