Module 3: Copyright and Fair Use

Good online citizens know and follow copyright guidelines. In this module, we will learn about copyright law and fair use guidelines. While all teachers should always follow copyright law, it is especially critical in blended and online courses where teachers commonly place materials online. 

 Additionally, we will learn about a growing movement--Creative Commons--that allows people to share their material with others so that they can use them for free.  It is important that you follow copyright guidelines in this course and that you teach future students to also follow the guidelines in their projects. As a result, we will watch and read materials related to copyright and take a copyright quiz to check our understandings.  You will then use what you learned to create a teacher guide. 

Start by watching the following video showing how one teacher teaches her students about copyright and fair use. As you watch, think about how you have taught students about copyright and how you could improve. NOTE: the thumbnail on the video is blank but it should still play. If it doesn't please watch it here. 

There are some exceptions to copyrights that allow access to copyright-protected materials for educational purposes. For instance, Fair Use allows instructors and students to incorporate media into projects and instruction even without permission from the copyright holder as long as they provide proper attribution and follow these guidelines:

• the media that is being used was not created specifically to sell to schools/students

• you are not negatively impacting the commercial value of the work

• the media is being used for an educational purpose--not as a reward

• the media was legally acquired

• the copyright holder is cited properly

• only a portion of the work is being redistributed and/or used

  • 10% or three minutes of a video, whichever is less 

  • 10% or 1,000 words, whichever is less

  • 10% or 30 seconds of music, whichever is less

  • entire images can be used but you should only use five works per artist and 10% or 15 images from one published work, whichever is less.

You should also watch the following videos:

Fair use guidelines empower teachers and students to use and build on previously created works. However, that does not necessarily mean that they can place that material on a public website. Teachers also need to follow the guidelines in the TEACH (Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization) Act. Basically, the TEACH Act says that the instructor should take precautions to ensure that materials are only distributed to students in their course. 

It's also important to remember that online instructors should not negatively impact the commercial value of the work.  The commercial value of an online work such as videos is largely determined by views and "likes." As a result, it is best if online teachers avoid downloading videos from the Internet and then uploading them to their course. Instead, there's actually a way to include media into a course page so that the owner of the media can still collect views and revenue from your students. You can do this by embedding the video or linking to the actual video itself. Also, remember to give credit where credit is due!

You may have already heard about Creative Commons.  It's a growing movement that allows creators to easily remove some or all of the constraints that copyright and fair use guidelines have placed on those wanting to reuse, redistribute, revise, or remix their work. In a TEDxNYED presentation, David Wiley argued that the open movement "is really about sharing, about being generous with other people, and about giving. . . . and overcoming the inner two-year old in you that screams, 'Mine! Mine! Mine!'" 

Whatever people's motivation for sharing their work, it's important that you are aware of what Creative Commons licenses are so that you can benefit from them and possibly contribute to it yourself.  Not all Creative Commons licenses are the same and some are more restrictive than others so it's important to know what the different symbols mean. As a side note, we have used materials that were licensed under Creative Commons and have also licensed the materials that we have created.

I encourage you to explore the Creative Commons website, especially the different types of Creative Commons licenses found on this page. After, please watch the following videos.  

Teachers most commonly have questions regarding citing images. While there are some images where attribution is not required, by and large you will need to provide proper attribution to the images that you use regardless of where or when you use them. This becomes extremely important when you want to make your presentations available online. When you plan to post them online, you must include proper citations for images. 

Here are some guidelines to follow when citing images so that you don't make the same mistake others often do: 

• Citations should be placed directly under or on the image. 

• When available the image name and creator should be included.

• Hyperlink directly to the image

• Provide the Creative Commons license if one is provided.  

Teachers are increasingly selling materials that they create on platforms such as Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT). Some teachers have been able to supplement or even replace their teacher salaries. And good for them! However, it's important to recognize that these sites are full of copyright issues as well. Teachers create materials for their students under Fair Use guidelines but then forget that Fair Use no longer applies when they are selling those materials to others. If you like, you can read this article to find out more. 

Furthermore, content on sites such as TpT has a racism problem. Racism and Bias have long been part of professionally-produced curriculum as well but it is worse in some ways with these new sites. If you like, you can read this article to find out more. 

Advice from Dr. Chambers...

Not only is there a large cultural competence problem with sites like TpT, but there is also little to no content validation. This means that teachers must vet the materials they're purchasing to ensure that it is actually on grade level and/or as rigorous as the seller claims. There are have been multiple instances in which I reviewed material from TpT that suggested it was for middle or high school students, but the Lexile level and comprehension question difficulty was for elementary school. I encourage you to be diligent in your planning so that you don't find yourself in a bigger mess.

After you have finished reading/viewing the chapter and the above materials, you should quiz your knowledge by taking this quiz.  You can take the quiz as many times as you like but you will get points for participation rather than the number of questions you get correct.  I've also designed this quiz so that you will receive feedback after each question.