"Copyright and Fair Use"

   In the article "The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use" they describe how the idea of fair use is to protect "intellectual property" (http://www.techlearning.com/article/17674). They also discuss that it is not that they prohibit teacher's from using resources available to them, in fact it's just that it's important that the teacher's set a good example for the students in giving credit where credit is due.

Question number five in regards to the teacher making copies of the software because there are more students and computers than there is software was a question that really shocked me when I got it wrong. To me I guess I don't know that much about the copyrighting "rules" but if the teacher is just burning the CD to get additional copies it just seems weird that that isn't legal or that that doesn't fall under the copyright rules. The biggest reason this seems so strange or absurd to me is that I don't see any difference between making copies of the disk and making photocopies out of a textbook for students; there still isn't enough material and it's the same thing. Again, it's frustrating for me to put too much input in because I don't much about the rules so it's really hard for me to say that's right or that's wrong(http://www.techlearning.com/article/17674).

Question ten about the teacher finding clip art and music and sharing it with other teachers I really thought would be true because it says it was "file-sharing" so it seems like if it says that then it would be acceptable to share with other teachers. It seems as if it's those things that are the logistical things that I really don't understand and I wouldn't want to make a fuss if I was ultimately wrong and just didn't have enough knowledge about it (http://www.techlearning.com/article/17674).

Question fourteen was really baffling. This was the one where the PTA bought the Disney movie and was just trying to show it to younger kids and it's not accepted under the "Fair Use laws." This was frustrating because in this example I didn't see any difference between what they were doing and what a group of friends who are hanging out and someone brings over a movie is doing. It's the same concept and people don't pay companies to play movies at friends houses' so I don't see the difference at all (http://www.techlearning.com/article/17674).

Number sixteen, where the teacher allows his/her students to use this machine that she bought that "defeats the copy protection" so that her students can use parts of rented movies seems like this should absolutely be unacceptable but this is acceptable and other examples aren't. This seems ridiculous. This doesn't seem like it should be right. It really made me think about how the logic of the Fair Use rules doesn't seem to be accurate (http://www.techlearning.com/article/17674).

Number nineteen about using music in the yearbook surprised me too! I even got this answer correct in the quiz and so far I have only commented on one's that I didn't get correct but this one's explanation said that it wasn't acceptable "because they don't have the permission to use the whole song"
(http://www.techlearning.com/article/17674). Well I would say that if they are using any part of the song and not given permission or not "citing" it then it doesn't fall under the guidelines. It's examples like these that don't make sense because it's like it's acceptable if it's a certain length but if it's over that it's not. That makes it more complicated. It seems as if it's going to be unacceptable then make it unacceptable don't make it more difficult and put time limits that sets it apart from being acceptable to not acceptable.

Number twenty yet again seemed like it didn't make sense to me, but I will reiterate the point I tried to make in the beginning of this blog which is that maybe I just don't understand the rules well enough to make comments. This one was about the science fair and how making copies would only be acceptable if it were being used for educational purposes. What I don't understand is why it isn't acceptable to sell. First off to me, it is just like selling a yearbook to family members, it's the same thing, and they even had permission! It also was under the "fair use guidelines" but yet it's not acceptable. It again goes back to what I said before it seems like it's the nit picky stuff that is what gets people. Another thing, if it was being sold to let's say parents for instance, I don't see how that is not being used as an educational purpose. They can show it future children to help them with project idea's, teachers could buy one and keep it on hand for future students etc. Plus, parents already saw it and it was considered an "educational night" so I don't see why buying the dvd wouldn't be considered educational, it's not like it's a dvd of a talent show, it's a science fair.


I guess the biggest thing I realized is as a future teacher who will be teaching in the 21st century I really need to get caught up on all the "rules" and "guidelines" so I know what to be cautious about.


From "The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use."
http://www.techlearning.com/article/17674