FAIR USE PRINCIPLES

The National Council of Teachers of English has identified five principles of fair use for media literacy.

Principle One: Under fair use, educators using the concept and techniques of media literacy can choose illustrative material from the full range of copyrighted sources and make them available to learners, in class, in workshops, in informal mentoring and teaching settings, and on school-related Web sites. Educators may use any media to achieve their lesson goal or purpose. They should use only what is necessary to illustrate their purpose, which could be a short excerpt or the whole work and should use proper citation.

Principle Two: Under fair use, educators using the concepts and techniques of media literacy can integrate copyrighted material into the curriculum materials, including books, workbooks, podcasts, DVD compilations, video, Web sites, and other materials designed for learning. Educators should use only what is needed to reach their goal, use proper citation, and the media should meet professional standards.

Principle Three: Educators using concepts and techniques of media literacy should be able to share effective examples of teaching about media and meaning with one another, including lessons and resource materials. If curriculum developers are making sound decisions on fair use when they create their materials, then their work should be able to be seen, used, and even purchased by anyone—since fair use applies to commercial materials as well as those produced outside the marketplace model. Educators should use care when using portions of copyrighted materials to share professionally, using only what is necessary to illustrate the educational objectives of the lesson. For promoting purposes permission or a license should be obtained.

Principle Four: Because media literacy education cannot thrive unless learners themselves have the opportunity to learn about how media functions at the most practical level, educators using concepts and techniques of media literacy should be free to enable learners to incorporate, modify, and re-present existing media objects in their own classroom work. Media production can foster and deepen awareness of the constructed nature of all media, one of the key concepts of media literacy. The basis for fair use here is embedded in good pedagogy. Students may use copyrighted material but should not substitute it for their own creative work. For example students may use copyrighted music in their projects but it must have an educational purpose and should not be used for its popularity. Also proper citation should be given.

Principle Five: Educators should work with learners to make a reasoned decision about distribution that reflects sound pedagogy and ethical values. In some cases, widespread distribution of students’ work (via the Internet, for example) is appropriate. If student work that incorporates, modifies, and re-presents existing media content meets the transformativeness standard, it can be distributed to wide audiences under the doctrine of fair use. Educators should instruct students to behave responsibly when using copyrighted materials within their classroom projects. Student work that is distributed for school wide events or conferences should meet fair use policy.