Have you every stood at the copy machine in the teacher
workroom and thought should I really be making copies of this? Or maybe seen teachers who “cut and pasted”
workbook pages so the “do not reproduce” part was not visible on the
copies? In this day and age where people
can sue over asinine things (such as hot coffee burning them), many educators
are haunted by a fear of breaking copyright laws. Some educators refuse to use any multimedia
resources due to this fear. Educators
who do this do so to the detriment of those in their classrooms. I must admit there was always a fear of what
might happen in the back of mind when copying something from the Internet or
using a song or video in the classroom.
My hope was that since it was for education hopefully I would be
okay. It wasn’t until I took a class
with Dr. Cooper that I began to understand more about copyright and fair
use.
There are many myths surrounding fair use. Educators have gotten together and put
together the Code of Best Practices in
Fair Use for Media Literacy Education.
This publication helps clear up some of these myths. One of these myths is that fair use should be
avoided because it is too unclear for educators to understand. This is not true. The fair use provision of the Copyright Act
is rather broad. Fair use is regularly
used in broadcast newscasts through various references. Fair use is unique in each situation. It is not a specific set of rules to follow
but more about making the right decisions for your students. One of our responsibilities is to teach our
students to use information responsibly by developing critical thinking
skills. If we avoid using multimedia in
the classroom, we are not teaching our students how to properly use copyrighted
material. Our students live in a virtual
world. Almost all the information they
receive comes from the Internet. We need
to show them how to properly use this information. As educators, we do not need to miss opportunities
to meet the needs of our students.
I checked our school's Copyright Law's Compliance Information. It states that Franklin County Schools will honor copyright for materials used in the school and provides addresses for websites with information on Copyright Law and Fair Use.
I checked our school's Copyright Law's Compliance Information. It states that Franklin County Schools will honor copyright for materials used in the school and provides addresses for websites with information on Copyright Law and Fair Use.
On a personal note, I love music! I cannot get anything accomplished without
it. I also use it in my classroom. Sometimes I use it as part of the lesson, but
mostly I have it playing quietly in the background when they are working
independently. I use the music that I have
purchased through iTunes. Every year I
have students tell me how to get free music and that they cannot believe I have
purchased so much when I could get it for free.
I use this as an opportunity to teach them about copyright laws. I put them in the place of the artist and ask
them how they would feel if they created something and then didn’t get paid for
it. Then I’ll take a student’s work and
give it to someone else. This really
hits home! If I want my students to
learn to use copyrighted material responsibly, I have to be the one to teach
them.
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy
Education. (2012). Retrieved October 28,
2012 from http://mediaeducationlab.com/code-best-practices-fair-use-media-literacy-education-0
That's a good lesson to teach your students. That helps the message really hit home, I think. It's great that you model for them the importance of copyright laws and how you follow it in everyday life. It's great because they see that copyright is not just something that you teach, and only pertains to conducting research, but is something to abide by in daily life.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your lesson to your students. However tempting the free material is to the students we must teach them it is not fair to the creator of the material. I can see where your scenario will be one that continues to visit them throughout their school years and professional careers.
ReplyDeleteI love how you take the time to teach this basic concept to students. So many times, we get caught up in what is free than what is the right thing to do. When I teach about plagiarism, I sort of touch on the same idea that if it is not your idea, then don't act like it!
ReplyDeleteI agree that as educators we must make good decisions about what to include in our classrooms. However, I do feel like videos, music, etc. have a place in our lessons. We should not be afraid to tell students where we accessed the information or even have a sources page at the end of a presentation. This shows our students what we want them to do when it comes to copyrighted materials.
Great post and great idea about making the copyright laws hit home with students. Copyright and fair use laws are something that can get a little sticky at times and can be scary also. I used to get free music from Napster and Limewire, but after hearing all of the stories about random individuals getting sued for stealing music I changed my ways and began to buy the music I wanted. I also think the way you do when it comes to the artist not getting paid for what they have made. It is important to remember this and to teach others about it. Thanks for making me think about these issues and it is nice to see someone have the same opinion when it comes to copyright and fair use.
ReplyDeleteI am just like you and use music everyday in my classroom I can't stand for it to be completly silent in the room. I use it for independent work as well and we call it quiet music. I think you have what describes a teachable moment. Copyright law is so serious and alot of times the students don't understand it. tthis is a good way to explain it to them and to explain how it isn't fair if you download it free illegally. I like how this lesson applies to a real life situation as well. We get evaluated on making sure that our lessons could be used in real life.
ReplyDeleteAccess to information makes it so easy for items to be reproduced or used without following the copyright laws. It is very hard for students and teachers alike to understand why copyright is so important. If it were not for my classes here at West Georgia, I would not know as much as I do about copyright law. Often times I feel like time is not taken to thoroughly explain copyright laws and their importance. If more time were put into this, then I feel it would be a smaller problem.
ReplyDeleteThe first part of your post really hit home for me because I just saw someone covering up the "do not reproduce" line with a Sharpie marker before making photocopies just last week! I know that this happens all of the time and is a very serious issue! I don't think that many educators understand copyright laws and what is considered fair use, which is why they think nothing about covering up that "do not reproduce" phrase. I fully believe that it is the responsibility of the media specialist to actively teach and distribute this information to faculty as well as students. The copyright laws and what is considered fair use can sometimes be tricky, but it is important for us to make these guidelines clear in order to clear up any misconceptions. The better understanding that teachers have of the guidelines, the better they will be able to teach them to students and to prevent them from breaking copyright laws in their future.
ReplyDelete