When many people hear the word “copyright” a sudden cringe
is brought on. Why is this? Is it
becomes it brings you fear that you break copyright laws? Or because you have
been hounded over and over not to copyright?
Have you ever thought to yourself, am I allowed to copy this material
for my students? Can I google a song clip to share with my students? Either
way, copyright does not bring many people a warm, fuzzy feeling of comfort. Depending
on your background, copyright is either a mind-consuming term or a rare
thought.
Within the copyright world exists the idea of fair use. Fair use is “the right to use copyrighted
material without permission or payment under some circumstances—especially when
the cultural or social benefits of the use are predominant.” Many myths surround the idea of the fair use
policy. The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education was
created to help eliminate some of these myths and provide truth to users. One myth is that fair use is too unclear and
complicated to follow, therefore it’s better left to lawyers and
administrators. This is simply not
true. Fair use is written very broadly
and therefore should be simple to follow.
One must think, what am I copying this material for and how will it
benefit my students. Fair use is
situational and about well-informed decision making. As educators, we have my decisions we have to
make on the spot regarding our students throughout the day. This is one more thing that can fall under
that category. For most of us, it’s a thought
we process every day. Additionally,
another myth is that educators can rely on “rules of thumb” for fair use
guidance. This is not true because there
is not an extensive list of rules one must follow. Again, fair use is situational.
I know my school adheres to copyright rules, but honestly,
it is never enforced, checked, or even discussed. We have a little sign taped to our copy machine
stating “Be sure you follow all copyright rules if using this machine”. Our county website says we will “honor
copyright for materials used in our schools and provide information on the Copy
right Law & Fair Use.
Here is a link to access more information on Fair Use. Best Practices
It is interesting to see those small and simple copyright warnings on the walls near the copy machine. Is it the media specialist's responsibility to make sure the faculty sees that or actually understands copyright laws and regulations? I doubt the small signs actually inspire someone to investigate the copyright laws. Perhaps a beginning of the year faculty training session given by the media specialist is necessary.
ReplyDeleteI think that, since there are so many instances where Fair Use allows us to copy pieces of others' work, it's a very confusing topic. I never fully understood exactly what we were and were not allowed to copy, even though we had the same, perfunctory "Follow all Copyright Laws" sign taped to our copy machine. Even within the legal world, Fair Use seems to be very open to interpretation. As Mary said, I think a brief training would be helpful, but in reality, we often have to use our best judgement when it comes to using pieces of copyrighted writing, music, or videos in our teaching. By the way, I couldn't get the "Best Practices" link to work :(
ReplyDeleteCopyright is a topic that our media specialist often keeps us informed about, but like your school, no one is really checking to make sure that it is being followed. I've used materials in my classroom feeling that I am adhering the Fair Use guidelines. But when these guidelines are so broad, and not explicitly stated, how can anyone ever be 100% sure that they are following the rules. I feel that in the educational arena where no profit is being made, the copyright police should back off... But just my personal opinion, and until that is the case, I'll follow the rules;)
ReplyDeleteCopyright laws have always been an enigma to me. Just as all of you have stated, there are cute little notices around the copying area, but does anyone really enforce the rules? No. I do believe it is the media specialist's job to inform the faculty and be available to quickly answer an e-mail on the spot, etc. I think that if the answers to our copyright questions were mere seconds away, it would be easier to deal with. What about a helpful, easy to use website? I also agree with Sarah's comment about the copyright police backing off of the educational realm because there is no profit involved.
ReplyDelete