Karen Spear’s Blog

Blog #4

Wow! I remember learning about the Copyright laws as an undergrad, but I don’t think that I ever got this in depth with it and I don’t remember learning about Fair Use and Creative Commons. There really is so much to be aware of when integrating technology in the classroom. Several questions come to mind and really need to be explored by all teachers.

Question 1 – What are the copyright laws and who and what do they protect? I think this question can be answered with the help of the article Copyright 101 by Kate A. Thompson. Two basic beliefs that Thompson says the Copyright laws are generally based on are that a person that creates a tangible work deserves to be compensated and credited with that work and that the person should be allowed to control how his/her work is used. Thompson also talks about the “five exclusive rights” of the copyright owner on their work:

reproduce it in copies of phonorecords

prepare derivative words based upon it

distributive copies or phonorecords of it to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending

(in the case of audiovisual works) perform it publicly

display it publicly

I also learned, from the article Copyright Law and Technology by Elizabeth Langran, Robert Langran, and Glen Bull that copyright laws are subject to interpretation and can be changed by Congress at any time. This article also reminds us that “[a] work does not have to include a copyright symbol to be protected by copyright law” and that works are copyrighted automatically upon creation.

Question 2 – What is Fair Use and how does it differ from copyright laws? From the Wikipedia page on Fair Use we can determine what Fair Use is. According to this site, fair use “…allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders…” and is based on free speech rights. There are four factors that are used in determining what can be used under Fair Use. These are:

1. the purpose of the use
2. the nature of the work
3. the amount of the portion used
4. the effect of the use

This article also goes on to explain each of these four factors. The Copyright Law and Technology article mentioned above says that these four factors are a good guideline to know if what you are using is covered in the Fair Use or not. The Copyright Law and Technology article also gives an example about a student doing a multi-media project in which a cartoon character found on the web is used. The article then details the four factors in this situation and concludes that “…as long as the project is only being shown in the classroom or at home, the absence of commercial repercussions could tip the balance in favor of fair use.” It seems that you are OK, in some cases, as long as it stays in the classroom. So, Fair Use isn’t something used instead of or in place of copyright laws, but in addition to these laws.

Question 3 – What exactly is the Creative Commons? According to the Wikipedia page on Creative Commons, it “is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share” and was created by Lawrence Lessig. So what does that mean? It allows creators to reserve rights and waive rights on their creations. This means that someone can create, let’s say a novel, in which they allow it to be on the web and to be ‘tweaked’ by other users to an extent. To what extent? That depends on the type of license the creator has placed on their creation. The Creative Commons license site discusses the six main licenses available. The most restrictive of the six (Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives) allows redistribution and allows people to download and share as long as the creator is mentioned as the creator and linked to if possible. The least restrictive of the six (Attribution) allows others to remix and build upon, even commercially, as long as the creator is given credit for the original creation.

Question 4 – What does all of this mean to me as a teacher? As summarized in the Copyright Law and Technology article, “…it is more important than ever for educators to understand copyright and to present this information to students in a meaningful context.” A blog I found called My most exciting classroom experience this year by Karen (no last name given, some other Karen, not me) talked about teaching copyright and open content to middle school students. Karen speaks about getting frustrated when teachers tell their students to find an image online and insert it in your Power Point. I have to admit that I may have been one of those teachers, but I, probably as many other teachers, did not mean to not have students cite where their work or images were from. Karen talks about her discussions with the students and 10 of her “big take-aways” from that experience. Here is my summary and thoughts on some these take-aways.

Take-away #2 – “In general, kids want to be legal.” I believe this is true and all too often, as Karen mentions, the students don’t know what is legal and not legal on the internet. These ‘digital natives’ are learning about and using the internet very easily in the world today, but that is something they know and can figure out. They don’t know the legalities of it all, and that needs to be taught.

Take-away #3 – Students are using filesharing tools (Lime Wire to download music) and, again, do not realize that it is not legal. A friend of mine in college was sued and had to pay millions of dollars because of all the illegally downloaded music on their computer. Of course, being a college student, they could not pay this, so many loans in their name and in their parent’s names had to be taken out. This person’s life changed drastically because of this, and these students shouldn’t have to go through the same thing because they are not being educated on the copyright laws.

Take-away #9 – Students “…were surprisingly adept at finding and understanding the licenses…and at including appropriate credits for the pieces used in their own work.” We teach in English classes how to reference books, articles, etc. that we have used in our work. We need to teach how to credit online sites and images used as well.

Question 5 – Now that I understand what this means, what do I do? Teachers need to stay up-to-date with copyright laws, Fair Use practices, and the Creative Commons. Teachers also need to teach and remind students of these. The website Technology Support Services gives a chart that can help with this. It is a guideline of Fair Use in the classroom and shows what a teacher can do under Fair Use and what a student can do under Fair Use in several different aspects.

Issue: What are the issues associated with copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons in the classroom?

Conclusion: The issue is that teachers and students do not know and understand these laws. I believe that every year all teachers need to have a PD seminar in which they learn the updates to these laws and that every teacher have some sort of quick-guide handbook to help them throughout the year. I also think that these laws need to be taught to students at an early age and the students need to be reminded of them when projects are done in class that would be affected by the laws.