Copyright laws are not clear cut where you know exactly what is "Fair Use". The fair use policy is considered in various areas such as: criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research (per U.S. Copyright Office - Sec. 107).
There are 4 factors to be considered when determining whether there is "fair use".
1. Whether use is commercial or non profit use
2. Nature of the copyrighted work
3. Amount of portion used in relation to work as a whole
4. Eeffect of use on potential market or value of copyrighted work
So, all these factors are to be considered, however, when used for educational purposes what about the chapter being copied because there are not enough to go around in the class room. What about video and internet, how can "fair use" be determined. Who can determine as to what has been copied and what has been used without getting permission from the author. So many things to consider and so little time to do the work of teaching. What do you think?
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2 comments:
I agree! It can be very confusing. I found a school's website that had some general copyright thoughts typed up by the school system's attorney. It had his name on it. I think we should all follow the guidelines to the best of our ability, but when it gets vague we shoudl reach out to our school system's attorney. If he/she is not sure, then obviously it's a good question and the law expert can spend time doing the research - not the teacher!
http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/copyright/
Here are a couple links that may be useful to you or your school's attorney or teachers. It is my understanding that in many instances the intent of copyrights often are misinterpretted when considering electronic uses or transference of information meant for educational purposes.
While some institutes (usually private or well funded) tend to still consider the general nuance of 'fair use' and have polices that lend 'protection' to their faculty and staff, the public shool system at large is not often so vigilant or concerned with copyright issues.
Those authors and artists who have attempted aggressive enforcement of their works on occassion have become pariahs of the public educational system. Or, an author has sent a heavy-handed message via an attorney to 'cease non-copensatory use of...' which sends a chill down the collective spine of the public shool system.
Your blog is quite interesting for what it is. It seems 'public' enough and yet-- if I were to copy a piece and use it 'unfairly' in my own work somewhere else, you can only really stop and make me pay after you've proven it to be yours, then filed the proper papers through the court system with your attorney. I might not even live in the U.S. anyway! Such is the brave new world of global media.
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