There has been a lot of confusion over the years
about what kinds of copyrighted materials are allowed to be used in the
classroom. I remember when I was a
beginning teacher in Texas, we had a whole faculty meeting about not being
allowed to show any Disney movies for any reason in our classrooms. We were told that we could be sued and get
the school district into trouble legally.
We also had a meeting about not photocopying books that were copyright
protected, such as consumable workbooks (lots of teacher did anyway). That was my first taste of copyright in the
classroom.
In 2008, several Media Literacy organizations met to
decide what was considered fair use for literacy organizations. They wrote The Code of Best Practices in Fair
Use for Media Literacy Education. This
code contains five categories. Those are:
1) Classroom teaching with copyrighted materials. This means that teachers can use copyrighted
materials such as websites, video games, movies, advertising and other media as
it relates to topics they are teaching and use only what is necessary. They may
use materials that help them teach critical thinking. 2) Copyrighted materials within
curriculum. Teacher may use copyrighted
materials to aid in the development of their curriculum. 3) Sharing media literacy
curriculum materials. These materials
are often shared at educational conferences to show professional development.
4) Student use of copyrighted materials in their own academic or creative
work. Students improve their media literacy
skills using different types of software and putting music or other media into
their project. 5) Developing audiences for student work. Students may distribute and share their work
that contains copyrighted materials.
The idea behind Fair Use is to allow teachers and
students to use copyrighted materials in an educational setting. No one is
profiting from another person’s work, they are using copyrighted materials in a
responsible way for teaching and learning.
Susan, not only is no one profiting from anyone's work, that someone whose work is a subject of fair use is probably gaining from exposure and publicity. Why wouldn't they want that? I think you hit the nail on the head when you point out that these materials are being used for educational use only. I know if I was the author or creator, I'd be thrilled! I'm glad the rules of Fair Use are becoming a little more clear. I know you just helped clarify them for me!
ReplyDeleteI love the title of your blog post because it speaks to the fears that many of us face when dealing with Copyright laws. I never am clear as to what I can or cannot use, so I always find myself researching copyright laws. I work for a public library and we have movie licencing rights to show movies within our branch. Each month I have to research the movies I want to show to ensure that they are a part of the rights that I have, there is also specific information that I have to provide for the flyer such as timing, director, actors and the such. It is a lot of work but it is worth it because of the impact it has the community I serve. The fair use to share copyrighted material is needed so that knowledge is properly shared to feed the continuous need of life long and independent learning.
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right about the fears that come about when the word copyright is entered into the conversation! I remember those days of going through copyright laws but to be honest, it seems like you did a whole lot more than those at my school did. If it weren't for my classes for LMS then I probably wouldn't know much about the fair use policies.
ReplyDeleteIt is understandable that someone's work should not be used for profit, but with education, I feel materials should be more available. Thank you for listing the "Codes of Best Practices." That simplifies what fair use means for teachers and should probably up in classrooms as daily reminders of how to properly use copyrighted materials.
Susan, first of all I love how you titled your blog. It takes just a little bit of the fear out of using others work. You stated and I have always thought that, "...No one is profiting from another person’s work, they are using copyrighted materials in a responsible way for teaching and learning." This has been the main focus for me and this is what I always remind teachers about. I try to make them think about how they would feel if they worked hard to create something and then others just used it as if it were theirs. Most of the things that I see teachers copy give permission for them to reproduce for the use of the classroom. There are some materials however that I have seen that clearly state do not copy and this is where there can be a problem because teachers want to do it anyway. I am going to take the time to review all I need to know about copyrighting and share this with the faculty and staff. I don't want to use not knowing as an excuse. I also don't want people to take the subject lightly because it can cause a big problem if brought to attention.
ReplyDelete