More on Fair Use & Copyright
Recommended Read!
Reading Copyright Clarity by Renee Hobbs really opened my eyes. Teachers and learners have far more freedom to use copyrighted work than I previously thought. According to the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education,
Educators can:
- make copies of newspaper articles, TV show, and other copyrighted works, and use them and keep them for educational use;
- create curriculum materials and scholarship with copyrighted materials embedded in them; and
- share, sell, and distribute curriculum materials with copyrighted materials embedded in them.
Learners can:
- use copyrighted works in creating new material; and
- distribute their works digitally if they meet the transformativeness standard.
What is the transformativeness standard? It is the repurposing of someone's work to create something new, and in education not only are we are allowed, but we are encouraged to do that as we develop 21st century skills.
Many of the copyright charts and guidelines that have been given to teachers and schools regarding the use of copyrighted material are too restrictive. It is important to remember that these guidelines are not law, they are only interpretations of the law, and most often they were written by lawyers representing the music and movie industries. It is far better to understand fair use and make decisions based on individual situations. That's what the Fair Use Evaluators are for on the left. They allow you to evaluate the project you are working on and take you through the steps in order to come to your own, good-faith effort of determining fair use. Another benefit is, should your use of copyrighted material ever be questioned, you will have documentation of the process.
Stop in and see me if you have any questions about this. I may not have all the answers, but together we can make a solid attempt to figure it out.