FBI ANTI-PIRACY WARNING
When the title Library Media Specialist is mentioned images come to mind of that beginning of year in-service..
a hushed silence fills the room. I mean the media specialist certainly seems serious, the bun is tight and the glasses
are ever so carefully placed on the bride of the nose. There is nervous laughter then...
the awkward silence ensues.
At the conclusion of the meeting, I am left feeling a bit jittery, and start to wonder...will I go to jail if I make a copy, play this movie, or show a clip?
Well let's address the elephant in the room:
Not really. In fact, the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education reports:
"We
don’t know of any lawsuit actually brought by an American media company against an
educator over the use of media in the
educational process. "(1)
Furthermore, Professor James Gibson, from the University of Richmond School of Law posted this in his article "there were fewer than two hundred criminal intellectual property convictions in 2010 (and some of those were trademark cases)" (2)
So we should rest a little right? Actually, yes. In the context of education, we are the Get Out of Jail Free card. I will address a few sailing points but the lesson of the day is to encourage the academic community to INCREASE the use of materials as it promotes media literacy, engages learners, and provides a vast number of resources in a way never thought humanely possible. Just follow these guiding principles and you should do just fine:
Principles
One: Employing Copyrighted Material In
Media Literacy Lessons-it's ok
1 (a digital copy is the same as a hard
copy in terms of fair use)
Two: Employing Copyrighted Material In
Preparing Curriculum Materials-it's ok
Three: Sharing Media Literacy
Curriculum Materials-it's ok
Four: Student Use Of Copyrighted
Materials In Their Own Academic And Creative Work-it's ok
Five: Developing Audiences For Student
Work-it's ok
Feel free to reproduce this work in its entirety. For
excerpts
and quotations, depend upon fair use.
By the way, I copied this from the Code of Best Practices
website J
1 http://www.mediainstitute.org/IPI/2011/052511.php
2 http://mediaeducationlab.com/code-best-practices-fair-use-media-literacy-education
2 http://mediaeducationlab.com/code-best-practices-fair-use-media-literacy-education
I think your introduction to the annual speech on copyright is true of how most teachers view it: copyright is intimidating stuff. I have spoken with other media specialists about teacher perceptions of copyright training, and many recount the very noticeable moment when either everyone's eyes glaze over or they begin to look quite nervous (usually during the repercussions part). While it might be boring or confusing to some, I think that it is every teacher and staff member's responsibility to know the rules and to try to fall within them.
ReplyDeleteAlthough you highlight that convictions in the unauthorized use of intellectual property are rare, I think that it is still important to make teachers fully aware of the risks associated with copyright infringement. I work in higher ed and the Georgia State University fair use lawsuit is still fresh in a lot of our minds when we think/talk about copyright.
First, your blog posts are always interactive and fun to read! Copyrighting is an issue that I am not sure educators take seriously. Thank you for actually citing cases where it is highly unlikely for a media specialist and/or teacher to face criminal charges due to copyright infringement. I attend many technology trainings and workshops; there is constant conversation of a "teacher" being prosecuted for playing a song to students without the writers expressed permission. This is simply not the case, BUT we should take more caution and care when using copywritten material in the instructional setting. The Code of Best Practices does detail less restrictions on students using copywritten material for producing their own work. Media specialist should take time to make these standards available to teachers. This would alleviate any confusion in the use of copywritten material.
ReplyDeleteThanks Charice! I think blogging is becoming my thing. Yes, I think the key here is to teach people to use all the resources in the world and mention all the people who provided that assistance.
DeleteI loved your post! It was so entertaining and informative. I too sat in a presentation like the one you talked about. While I don't think media specialists have to be the 'copyright police', I do think it is imperative that we teach teachers and students alike that they should always credit the creator of the work where possible. In instruction and professional learning, we talk about copyright and educational use. I think the key here is having the conversation and making students and teachers aware of fair use, and giving credit. Recently, our student government wanted to show a movie on the lawn and charge admission. We had to educate these students (and teachers) about why they needed the one-time use license to do this. They weren't trying to get around it, they truly didn't know it was wrong.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the positive feedback! I agree the key here is to just take time to give folks credit. And kids these days (I know I sound old) have it easy with Citation Machine and other software which simply inserts the source.
DeleteVery Creative post! I was actually thinking before I got to the end of your blog, “Is the image of the elephant copyrighted?” I am a huge believer in the Fair Use Law. I have to confess I’m the one who always needed “Copyright Reminders.” I strongly believe that if it is for Educational purposes than it should be “ok.” As a media specialist now, I am reluctantly taking a stricter approach to my job, because it is mandated by my new school district. For example, students and staff are not allowed to use Google Images for assignments, presentations, etc. The school district purchased a license to Britannica Images. Can we still find images? Of course! Is it as easy to locate the pictures as a search on Google Images. No! I have to get creative with my keyword search. Would it make my job easier if we followed applied the Principles more? Yes!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy reading your posts. I didn’t have to do an original post, but still read the information and I was surprised at how much I didn’t know about copyright. I thought it was so strict, but I’m learning that as long as you use it in the context of a learning environment & you don’t go overboard, like you say “it’s okay”.
ReplyDeleteFirst, did you give credit to the photographer for that picture of the elephant? LOL! Your post was most helpful on this topic. Where and when should we provide the names and resource that housed the materials/information that we used in the line of educating? For instance, if I am going to pull an excerpt from a speech or an article that I found online, do I need to do a bibliography for that excerpt?
ReplyDelete