Blog #6
Copyright is defined as "a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of 'original works of authorship', including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works." (No Author, 2008). However, copyright laws do not extend to facts and ideas (Newsome, 2007). Presently, a copyrighted work does not have require, under U.S. law, to show notice of copyright, but it is beneficial. With older works, since the law did require it, works prior to 1989 required notice.According to the article by Cathy Newsome, copyright law covers seven broad categories:
- literary works - both fiction and nonfiction, including books, periodicals, manuscripts, computer programs, manuals, phonorecords, film, audiotapes, and computer disks.
- musical works - and accompanying words - songs, operas, and musical plays
- dramatic works - including music - plays and dramatic readings
- pantomimed and choreographed works
- pictorial, graphics, and sculptural works - final and applied arts, photographs, prints, and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, technical drawings, diagrams, and models
- motion picturs and audiovisual works - slide/tape, multimedia presentations, filmstrips, films, and videos
- sound recordings and records - tapes, cassettes, and computer disks
The four standards for determination of the fair use exemption are:
- Purpose of Use: Copying and using selected parts of copyrighted works for specific educational purposes qualifies as fair use, especially if the copies are made spontaneously, are used temporarily, and are not part of an anthology.
- Nature of the Work: For copying paragraphs from a copyrighted source, fair use easily applies. For copying a chapter, fair use may be questionable.
- Proportion/Extent of the Material Used: Duplicating excerpts that are short in relation to the entire copyrighted work or segments that do not reflect the 'essence' of the work is usually considered fair use.
- The Effect on Marketability: If there will be no reduction in sales because of copying or distribution, the fair use exemption is likely to apply. This is the most important of the four tests for fair use. (Newsome, 2008).
It is important for teachers to teach students about copyright and fair use. The only thing I was taught prior to college was not to copy an entire paper. I was not aware that music and videos were also copyrighted. 
For example, the Disney company is one such example. After watching many a Disney movies during my schooling, I was shocked to find out that teachers were committing a crime against Copyright and Fair Use Law by showing us these movies. For an interactive activity for students to learn about copyright and fair use, Click here. The activity is done in question/answer format, videos, timelines, etc. in terms that even younger students can understand and is a great starting step for teaching students.
Charts are very helpful to identify what is copyrighted and what is fair use in the classroom. Below are two charts that will prove to be very helpful to teachers and as handouts for students.
A very useful chart for identifying copyright and fair use can be found by clicking here.
Another copyright and fair use chart can be found here.Until next time, Mac vs. PC
- Lauren
No Author. (2008). Copyright Basics. United States Copyright Office. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf
Images found through Google Image Search.
That was very informative. I have heard of fair use, but never knew what it was. I liked the way you detailed the guidelines for the fair use exemption. I was surprised to learn that there were exeptions at all. I thought copying or distributing copywrite material was always illegal. I am way more conscious of what I do on the web now-a-days after doing some research into the legal issues of the copywrite laws and plagiarism. It is important to not just teach students that copying was wrong, but I think someone should go in-depth with our students either in a computer class, ELA, or as part of the student-user agreement at the beginning of the year to teach them the ins and outs of what it actually means.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the information. I knew there were exceptions for educational purposes, but wasn't exactly clear on what they are. Thanks so much for all the helpful resources!
ReplyDeleteCorinna, the first time I even heard about fair use was during student teaching, which is rediculous. I agree completely that students need to learn about it earlier. All I was ever told was "don't copy and paste everything". I was never told that more than five words written in the same order pops up as plagiarism.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for exceptions, I don't understand them all completely, but I do know there are more exceptions for a school librarian since she is technically the media specialist than there are for classroom teachers. She can copy a CD and give it to a teacher for classroom use, but the teacher is not allowed to copy it. Some things are redundant and tedious, but definitely worth further looking into.
I agree this was very informative. I knew a little about fair use but the way you explained it was great! When I was in reading block I had to copy a picture from a book for a lesson. I needed to blow up the picture to poster size. So I took it to Kinkos. Because it was for educational reasons they were able to blow it up for me. They just had me sign a formal paper which stated that I was using it for educational purposes and I had to provide them with my SHSU ID.
ReplyDeleteFair use has come in handy for me online. I also take advantage of works licensed under creative commons licensing. According to the Creative Commons website, everything created today is automatically covered under an "all rights reserved" copyright, and the copyright doesn't have to be stated to be enforced. However, Creative Commons has created a "some rights reserved" copyright that allows people to share their creations with others while maintaining as much control over their creation as they want. For example, you can set up a Creative Commons license that allows others to use your work but not to make any alterations. It's fantastic for teachers, especially, because you can find works that are completely copyright free and legal for use as many times and in as many ways as you want!
ReplyDeleteIronically, I'm posting this on what Creative Commons is calling "National Censorship Day" because today is the day that Congress begins hearings on the first American Internet censorship program.
References:
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Katie Petty