Educator

• 2.1 Learner. Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning.

• 2.2 Leader. Educators seek out opportunities for leadership to support student empowerment and success and to improve teaching and learning.

• 2.3 Citizen. Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world.

Student

• 1.2 Digital Citizen. Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.

Case Study 1​

A high school principal finds a very useful math study guide for students to use. The principal purchased some guides and decided to copy them on the school copier to distribute to the students. Is this a permissible action under copyright or a violation?​

Houston ISD Copyright case

Case Study 2​

A high school organizes a signing performance competition where students sign popular, copyrighted songs. Would this be a violation of copyright?​

California High School copyright case

Case Study 3​

A student at a high school takes pictures of campus events such as a football games. The student uploads the images onto an online photo site like Flickr. Did the student violate copyright?​

Copyright or Copywrong

Case Study 4​

A school district uses Twitter for communication to all stakeholders. Throughout, some posts may be inspiration quotes found from authors or other famous people. Do you think this posting of quotes from books is a violation of copyright?​

Social Media and Copyright

Other examples:

• Read Aloud time and copyright during COVID

• Edsurge and read aloud time and copyright

Abide by copyright… get permission from the author/owner​

• Copyright is a license covered by US law that protects intellectual property and authorship of different works of art, media, and tangible assets. With copyright protection, the author/creator/developer, can enforce how their content is distributed, shared, used, and monetized. (Piña, 2021, para. 3)​

• Material whether art, media, or other does not have to published. Copyright is the strictest and can lead to law enforced fines or consequences. (Piña, 2021, para. 3)​

US Copyright​

Examples of copyrightable works include:​

• Literary works​

• Musical works, including any accompanying words​

• Dramatic works, including any accompanying music​

• Pantomimes and choreographic works​

• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works ​

• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works​

• Sound recordings, which are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds​

• Architectural works (copyright.gov, n.d.)​

Side Note:

US Copyright – Amendment 1​

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)​

• This Act focuses on the rights of individuals (or organizations) have toward their own material or creative works on the internet.​

• This Act also stipulates responsibilities for Internet Service Providers that may be allowing infringement to happen within their networks.​

• Example

When copyright is not feasible, apply fair use guidelines​

• "Fair Use Doctrine allows for copyrighted material to be used under specific circumstances such as scholarship or teaching without getting the necessary permission" (Piña, 2021, para. 5).​

• Depending on the material or work being used or replicated, there are restrictions to how much can be used.​

• This also is to address using these materials for teaching purposes mostly and some instances for student created projects (copyright.gov, section 107, n.d.).​

4 factors to consider for fair use:

1. The purpose and character of the work.​

2. The nature of the copyrighted work.​

3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.​

4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.​

If Copyright or Fair Use are not working, try other IP licensures.​

• Creative Commons is a kind of license that is open. ​

• Public Domain​

Creative Commons​

• “Creative Commons is a kind of license that is open. This means that media licensed under Creative Commons is more available to be shared and reproduced by others” ​(Piña, 2021, para. 6).​

• This kind of license provides broader permissions for anyone rather than extreme restrictions. Creative Commons was quickly developed in the digital age as a response to allow people to be able to share their work if they choose. ​​(Piña, 2021, para. 6).​

• There are several attribution licenses so be sure check those out before sharing. ​

• The key word we want to remember is that in this digital age, we should be looking toward OPEN availability. Just like Open Educational Resources (OERs), access, and media (Piña, 2021, para. 5).​

​​

​Public Domain​

• Public domain is a term given to materials or works that do not have the copyright protection. ​​(Piña, 2021, para. 7).​

• This could happen for a couple of reasons such as the work was created before the existence of copyright law or the copyright protection has expired.​

• For instance, anything from published in 1925 is now open to all! If you are interested in an exciting story, the happy birthday song we all sing went through some public domain/copyright problems. It has been in the public domain since 2017.​

• Examples: Wikimedia Commons, Project Gutenberg: 60,000+ downloadable eBooks (expired copyright), Digital Public Library of America, Internet Archive, Metropolitan Museum of Art: more than 400,000 images. Prelinger Archives: public domain films, Public Domain Review, Library of Congress, Smithsonian​

Caution on Royalty Free​

• A term that signifies when works are used and no royalties need to be paid. But be careful as royalty free does not mean free to use or not copyright. You may have to pay for the license but not the royalties. Another term to wary of is "stock."​

Use appropriate sites when needing media for instructional materials​

• For student projects, apply appropriate citations and use open resources rather than apply fair use. Teach them to search for these items in the right repositories rather than just Google.​

• Public domain sites and other copyright free sources exist for text and written work.​

• Creative Commons or Copyright free for music, videos, and images. ​

• ​ In general, you will want to find images from a repository site such as the ones below or Google images and filter for the non-copyrighted material. You do not want to use an image you find that is posted on a blog, website, or other individual's site. That is copyright infringement. Remember, when you know the image or works is copyright, it does not matter if you cite it, it is still against the law. You will need their permission to use.

Options - Literature/Reading

Options - Music

Options - images

Options - videos

Teach students.

• Teach students to respect the creative works of others.

• Use creative commons which will allow for appropriate citation and attribution but not so strict in usage.​

• Resources

  • Copyright Alliance

  • Copyright and Creativity

  • Common Sense Digital Citizenship curriculum

Google Image Search Tip​

Tip: When using Google, you can find creative common images in their image database. Narrow your image search by clicking on "TOOLS" and then 'usage rights.' Select "creative common licenses."​

Caution on Acknowledgements​

Citing or acknowledging another’s work does not clear anyone of copyright infringement. Citation is one part of the totality of what is needed. Permission is still required. ​It is an infringement to cite a copyrighted source and use anyway. Moreover, if the assumption is it falls under fair use, that is also dependent on the factors stated previously.

Piña, C. (2022, September 14, 2022). The Best Approach to Intellectual Property for Educators. [Webinar]. TCEA Lunch and Learn. Virtual.