Where we would be without copyright laws? Well for starters anyone could take anyone's work without any problems. Sounds like legal plagiarism to me. We have all seen the copyright symbol (pictured left) but I wonder how many people really abide by copyright laws.
According to (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008) whether you copy pages from text, music from a CD, or multimedia clips from the Internet, you may be in violation of copyright laws. As the authors mentioned someone put their time, energy, and creative talent into the product that they have created and has the complete right to decide how it is to be used and to profit from his or her work.
I think about ethics when I think about copyright laws. If it is not correct, then don't do it-don't violate it. Please allow me to help. Use the three guidelines below and consider these facts regarding copyright laws:
1. If you are an educator, you are not granted special permission to buy one license of a
particular product, make copies, and distribute to your entire class or school;
particular product, make copies, and distribute to your entire class or school;
2. Do not place your students work online without permission; and
3. All info on the Internet is copyrighted in some way, regardless if you see the copyright sign
or not-don't take it for granted.
or not-don't take it for granted.
Perhaps number one and number two are the most important points to remember. As current or former teachers you should be aware of purchasing a certain licenses for educational purposes. in addition, you should also be aware that the "how many" question is always asked. Purchasing one license and supplying the software to more than one is unethical. In Why Teachers Violate Copyright (2008), it is explained that a school district in Texas purchased a single copy of a high-stakes assessment workbook for each grade level, then sent the copies to the district print shop. The print shop duplicated a copy for each student in the district. The copyright owner found out, and sued the district, alleging $7 million in damages!!!! Be careful not to put you or your school system in this situation. To be on the safe side, use fair use judgement before proceeding in situations like this.
Secondly, refer back to number 2 (one cannot reproduce, distribute, or electronically transmit the work of others without their permission). This seems easy, makes a lot of sense actually. As a teacher have you ever posted your students work online without their parents permission? If so, avoid doing it again. Remember, you must gain the permission of the student and the parent or legal guardian before doing so.
Abiding by copyright isn't hard...just avoid doing the wrong things.
References
Garner, T. (2008). Why teachers violate copyright? National Council of Teachers of English. Retrieved on March 9, 2011 from http://ncteinbox.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-i-have-violated-copyright.html.
Lever-Duffy, J. and McDonald, J. (2008). Teaching and learning with technology. 3rd edition. New York: Pearson
I agree. Avoiding the breakage of copyright laws is not hard. However, one has to be aware of the laws. I also agree that it is a form of plagiarism. Creators of work deserve not just financial compensation but the recognition of where the effort came from. Unfortunately, even in education, what may seem as an innocent or justifiable act is copyright infringement.
ReplyDeleteThats right Angela! Even it we think things are innocent we must take an extra second to think if the action is ethical.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true, all is takes a few extra minutes to be sure. If in doubt, ASK.
ReplyDeleteAs a former teacher, how much time did the district or school devote to educating teachers about copyright laws? With everything that the teacher has to deal with they probably view this as just another distraction and will not take it seriously unless forced to by the administration.
I also read that at some universities they no longer indemnify a professor or administrator who is sued for a copyright violation. This means that you are on your own and have to defend yourself. That could get really costly.
Kiva,
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I can't remember reviewing or discusisng copyright laws. It's almost like we needed to used whatever we resources we could get to get the students taught....as I am typing this, it sounds crazy. But it is true.
This was an interesting example you provided about the school district in Texas. I understand legally and ethically it is not right. On the other hand with budget woes going on now I can imagine the students will lack a lot of material. I suggest moving to ebooks if possible because they are a lot cheaper. The intial investment is expensive but in the long run it would definately pay off.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few things on the internet that are not restricted by copyright. Most U.S. gov documents are not protected by copyright. In addition, there are materials whose copyright has expired as well as copyfree materials.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that some of you have developed strategies to stay within the copyright guidelines somewhat painlessly. I would be very interested in hearing ways to comply and still have access to the materials. How do you go about getting permission to use the articles that you use associate with your classes? When you use music on a PowerPoint is that okay because you purchased the music? I thought that was outside of fair use without permission, is that right or wrong? Let me hear your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI am always searching for ways to teach my students about copyrights and I found a source that you might be interested in using as well. Check out this website,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.teachingcopyright.org/curriculum/hs