- As a creator, your the works that you author (in a "fixed" format) are protected under copyright laws. However, there are some things that are excluded from this, like ideas and processes that are not written down, and works by the U.S. government.
- Generally, use of works under copyright is consider "fair use" when it falls under the following categories: 1) criticism or commentary; 2) news reporting; 3) research and scholarship (and generally, more factual than creative use is more permissible); 4) nonprofit educational uses; and 5) parody.
- Using works under copyright for nonprofit use is okay; using it for commercial purposes is not.
- The article gave five basic rules about fair use:
- Using works under copyright is okay when you are incorporating it into a new work, but not if you are just copying it.
- Using a work is not okay if you are competing commercially with that work.
- Just because you give credit to the source doesn't mean it's fair use.
- How long is the work? How much are you using? The more you use (relatively) the less likely it is that you are operating under fair use policy.
- Just as you shouldn't use too much of a work, you shouldn't necessarily use the "heart and soul" of that work.
- Finally, if the work is unpublished, it's probably not okay to use it under fair use.
I think one of the best ways to address these issues with students would be to teach a class on copyright laws and fair use. I have never actually had this topic addressed in a class in such a concise way. Usually teachers just comment that as long as works are used in an academic setting, using work under copyright is okay. I would also encourage students to ask me whenever they might have a question about fair use. Finally, it might be beneficial to have a brief seminar for teachers on fair use policy by a lawyer who knows his way around the law and could answer questions, so that teachers would be well-informed in order to teach their students.
Everything I read in the two articles made sense to me, so why did I have such a difficult time applying that knowledge to the quiz questions? Those questions were excellent, thought-provoking questions which represented very likely scenarios in our classrooms, so I want to make sure I understand all those answers. In fact, for my own educational purposes, I wanted to print out the answer page so I could refer to it later.....but guess what....(maybe you found this, too)...it was not printable or copyable (is that a word?). So, Dr. Hofer, may I obtain a copy of your quiz (with answers) for my own reference? Or, what if I just wanted to share it with some other teacher friends because they could really benefit from it? As long as you weren't earning money from teaching seminars on the subject, you wouldn't mind, right? (Out of curiosity, did you choose to make the quiz unobtainable, or is that a function of the Quia website?)
ReplyDeleteI like your suggestions, Emily, of how to address these issues with students and teachers. In my previous academic experiences, the topic of plagiarism was always covered; however, the Internet was not even used! This issue of "public postings" adds a whole new dimension to the topic. I have noticed when cruising around the Web that sometimes I will find several sites which have large chunks of duplicated information. Other times, I will find very creative unique sites whose authors are more in tune to copyright law, evidenced by some wording to the effect of "please use this for non-commercial educational purposes without our permission". I think we could all benefit (teachers, students, and others) from a clearer understanding of this topic. (Maybe the lawyer hired for the teachers' seminar shouldn't know his/her way AROUND the copyright/fair use laws, though....hee hee.....I know what you meant, Emily.) ;)
Laura
I didn't do so well on the quiz either! The question that surprised me the most was about the teacher who used clip art in a lesson plan and redistributed the material to other teachers online. Evidently, you can use the material, but you can't spread this around. I just found it weird since people spread around other copyrighted material all the time, like posting articles on blogs.
ReplyDeleteI never really learned about copyright material on school except for MLA citations during research paper units. I feel like the copyright laws are so situational that a lot of people ignore them. However, I think teachers especially should be aware of these laws to set good examples for students.
No one thinks plagiarizing or copying is a big deal until they get caught...in sticky honor code violation. Teachers need to warn students of these consequences and teach them the proper way to use or not use the work of others.
I think that having a class about copyright law could be interesting. However, why not expand the class to cover trademark and other intellectual property ("IP") law? These issues will become more and more important as we teach, and our society’s reliance on the internet increases. I agree with Emily that bringing in an IP lawyer could be helpful. I may be going out on a limb here, but it would be great if IP lawyers formed a pro bono organization in which they would field calls from teachers who want to make sure that they are not inadvertently violating copyright law.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that teachers should pass on the information that they know about copyright law to students. Even if teachers do not have an opportunity to have a formal lesson on copyright law (as Emily suggested), the teacher could incorporate copyright law into all lessons. Whenever the teacher uses someone else’s work in his or her lesson, the teacher could explain why that use is acceptable under the copyright. If a student is attempting to use copyrighted work inappropriately, the teacher also could explain to the students why that use violates the law.
By the way, this is Hannah. Please forgive the embarrassing name, I have had this account since I was twelve or thirteen. =)
I was amused as I took the quiz, because I wanted to answer on the side of cutting slack, but knew it was probably wrong. I decided to go with what I thought was technically right, whether or not it was what I would have done. My understanding served me well, when I thought past my initial (lenient) reaction.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing I pulled out was that there is no definition of fair use. I had heard when younger that you can use any song as long as you don't use more than 30 seconds. For whatever reason that stuck in my head, but it's bupkus! Good to know.