To be honest with you, copyright laws scare me. The more you read about what is allowed and
what is not, it is easy to get paranoid about what you are doing and what you
are allowing as the library media specialist. Can a student use a particular song on their
PowerPoint presentation? Can a teacher
make a copy of an illustration from a children’s book to use on a bulletin
board? Can I show a particular video
over the closed-circuit cable system? No
one wants to break the law or get sued for copyright infringement, so the easy
thing to do is to just stay away from all things that are copyrighted. Right?
Of course not! The fair use doctrine is a component of
copyright law that allows special permissions for non-profit educational
purposes. As educators and library media
specialists, we must be educated about these special permissions and be
confident in what constitutes fair use. To
become educated, we must also be aware of some of the common myths that
surround the idea of fair use.
According to the Center for Social Media’s Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media
Literacy Education, a big myth surrounding fair use guidelines is that “fair
use is too unclear and complicated for me; it’s better left to lawyers and
administrators”. Fair use is flexible
and is very situation dependent. Who
knows best if something is being used with an educational purpose in mind, an
educator or a lawyer? Administrators work hand-in-hand with educators and
depend on them to make sound decisions regarding their educational practices. Just make sure you have a clear educational
purpose for using copyrighted material in your classroom or school.
Another myth discussed by the Center for Social Media is
that “educators can rely on ‘rules of thumb’ for fair use guidance”. I remember finding guidelines such as these
for inclusion in my Policies and Procedures Handbook and thinking “Wow! Who can
remember all of this stuff? I better start memorizing now…”. Now I realize, however, that these guidelines
are not a set of rules, just a way for educators to be guided through the
decisions they are making regarding the use of copyrighted materials. Remember, copyright laws are designed to
protect the rights of the original creator of the work; make sure you are
balancing their rights with yours when you are making decisions regarding fair
use. Is it fair to give 20 students a photocopy of
a poem from a book of poetry to teach iambic pentameter? Sure.
Is it fair to give 20 students a photocopy of the entire book of poetry?
No, of course not.
To read more about fair use and see more of the myths
surrounding it, please check out the Code
of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education.
For an example of Fair Use Guidelines, please check out this one by Hall
Davidson.
References
Center for Social Media. (n.d.). Code
of best practices in fair use for media
literacy education. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from
http://mediaeducationlab.com/sites/mediaeducationlab.com/files/
CodeofBestPracticesinFairUse_0.pdf
Sally,
ReplyDeleteThanks for including the link to the COde of Best Practices. I do not think I have come across that document before. I like how it presents the material and give examples and explainations. This document will be very helpful.
I feel the same way as you do about copyright laws. Before stating this program, I never thought about copyright laws. Our media specialist always told us at the beginning of the year to not forget copyright laws, but then she never really gave us anymore information. After learning about copyright laws through classes, I find myself questioning some of the things I use in my classroom. Sometimes I even see other teachers doing things that I think may be unethical and I want to run to them and say, "Don't you know copyright laws?"
I am always worried about doing the right thing, but you made the point to remember that these are guidelines to guide us. If we as educators use our best professional judgement, we will (in most situations) make the right decision.
Sally,
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at your first sentence, but truthfully, I think most every teacher feels the same way. If you really start to look at copyright law carefully, it should scare you and make you think twice before copying something. It's that flexibility you mentioned that makes it so tricky - I think we would all love to have very clear-cut guidelines where there is no grey area. However, the reality it that some careful thought has to go into interpreting copyright law.
That's what is great about our coursework here - they make you think about things you may not have considered before, but that you REALLY need to consider. The readings we have had to do, having to create a copyright aid (for Practicum), and writing and responding to these blog posts have helped to take the scarey factor away a little. You did a nice job of explaining some of the sticky points about copyright, and I appreciated the links - both the Code of Best Practices and the example of Fair Use Guidelines. (I am keeping a file of all of these, so that when someone asks me a difficult question, I will have resources to which to refer.)
Sally, I loved that you put all the fears that media specialists and teachers have about copyright into perspective (and in understandable terms!) After starting this program, I am now constantly questioning myself if whether something is copyrighted or not, but you made an excellent point when you state, “Remember, copyright laws are designed to protect the rights of the original creator of the work; make sure you are balancing their rights with yours when you are making decisions regarding fair use.” This is so true! Most of the time, we are copying items that are Okay to copy! Or we are using songs, images, etc. that are fine to use, but it is good to know (or have an idea) about what is and what is not copyrighted. What elements can we use in the classroom or media center? What exactly can we make copies of for students? I know the lines may be blurred at times, but by being proactive and knowledgeable will help us make educated and reasonable decisions regarding copyright.
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ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about copyright laws. The laws scare me. Some educators do not care about copyright laws. They are going to copy what they want or like. I do understand why copyright laws are needed. The original creator should have their work protected. Because sheet music is so expensive, I copy songs some time because my school will not purchase copies for all the students. I copy the songs and say a prayer after. Most of the songs that are sold today have do not copy written on it. People will still copy the songs and use them for performances. To save money, I have the students to copy the songs from the board and place them in their music folders.
ReplyDeleteFair use explains rights on copyrights laws. Fair use has several myths about copyrights. Media specialists should have professional development workshops to make sure the laws are made available to everyone.
Sally,
ReplyDeleteI like the way you discuss ‘fair use’. Copyright is not to be feared but simply understood. Just recently, all of our principals went through a copyright presentation and they all felt that they should be carried off to jail. All kidding aside, we should not be lulled into believing if we were being sued for copyright that our administration would be there to support you. In the presentation, we were required to deliver all the guidelines kept saying that if ‘X’ happens it would weight in your favor. The reality is that anyone can sue anyone for anything! You do not want to be put into the position that you have to fight to keep your job.
Your comment about reading the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education is great advise. As media specialist, we need to know and model ‘Fair Use’ and teachers need to model copyright with their students. We should periodically (at least yearly) deliver copyright information to all faculty members even if it is just a handout. We do not accept plagiarism from students why should be knowingly violate copyright when we teach.