Copyright Revisited: A Faculty ODL Webinar

By Cayenne Tan of 11-Service

Graphic by Charlize See

THE COPYRIGHT law exists to protect the ownership rights of authors, artists, and other creators to their works. The violation of this law may stipulate monetary penalties and many other grave consequences. Unfortunately, as educational institutions switch to the online learning set-up, a number of potential copyright challenges may arise. This prompts the creation of numerous copyright guidelines on online teaching that educational institutions may not be accustomed to.

In order to avoid copyright issues in the new online learning modality, the faculty members from the Grade School and High School Departments gathered online to attend a webinar about the copyright law. This webinar entitled “Copyright Implications For Online Modules” was facilitated by Attorney Eduardo Padilla Lizares last August 18 through the online communication platform, Microsoft Teams.

During the webinar, Attorney Lizares explained the importance of the copyright law towards the faculty members and listed possible ways on how they can effectively adhere to it. With the essential knowledge on the copyright law, the teachers would be able to wisely utilize and share online learning resources to their students without violating the law.

There may be a number of copyright guidelines on using online modules and resources. However, these will not serve as a hindrance to the faculty members in their class discussions, as they are now well-informed about such policies. Enlightened by the discussion, Ms. Gemma Ariola shares, “I learned that educators access online learning materials regularly, and the knowledge of copyright law empowers one to know what is within its boundaries.”