Copyright & Fair Use

According to the book Copyright and Cultural Institutions by Hirtle, Hudson, and Kenyon (2009) , fair use general statutory purposes are criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. The four factors in fair use are purpose, nature, amount, and market impact. For example the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is commercial in nature or is for nonprofit or educational purposes. You have to determine the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

For more information please view the video about Copyright Law below!

References

Copyright and Fair Use. Duration: (2:46). User: Common Sense Education - Added: 9/5/14. YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suMza6Q8J08

Peter Hirtle, Emily Hudson & Andrew Kenyon, Copyright & Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for Digitization (Cornell University Library, 2009).

Copyright Law for Teachers & Students

Lifelong learning is vital for growth. Because of technology, educators must become lifelong learners; otherwise, they will fall behind in their teaching trade. But how do teachers continue learning and teaching without breaking copyright laws? As teachers, it is important to know about, adhere to, and reinforce copyright laws so that we are modeling for students the best practices of being lifelong learners.

The importance of knowing about copyright goes unknown amongst many educators. I can see why this occurs. Teaching is one of the most stressful jobs and oftentimes, because of needing a quick fix for a lesson, teachers will resort to whatever they find online. If teachers don’t know about copyright laws, they may not cite their sources and may get themselves and possibly even the school into trouble with the law. So districts should provide consistent professional development in this area so teachers are getting refreshed in this subject area.

Knowing about copyright is not going to be enough to correct problems. Teachers need to understand the ethics behind using other people’s works and lessons and breaking copyright laws. When districts teach about copyright laws, they should also provide a lesson in ethics to show that in the end, it is just not right or ethical to steal another’s work and call it your own.

Ethical behavior in regards to copyright of lessons is a must if we as teachers are going to be role models in what we expect from our students. We should not leave it to the English department to teach proper research skills. Students must see these skills practiced by all of their teachers and must be taught at an early age what plagiarism means and the what ethical behavior is what it is important when it comes to researching. The librarian can be of help when it comes to giving refreshers in these types of copyright lessons for both teachers and students alike.

If as educators, we want to set up our students for success, knowing about, sticking to, and modeling proper behavior having to do with copyright laws is an important part of our teaching practice. With so much information online and so much digital activity in our classrooms, we must adhere to copyright laws strictly so that we are role models for not only our students but to the world.

For a student lesson in all things copyright, click the image below!

References

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