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by Hall Davidson
October 15, 2002
Back by popular demand, a new version
of our practical quiz by educator and
multimedia guru Hall Davidson.
This is the way it happens: You're a
teacher. You find the perfect resource for
a lesson you're building for your class.
It's a picture from the Internet, or a
piece of a song, or a page or two from a
book in the library or from your own
collection. There's no time to ask for
permission from who owns it. There isn't
even time to figure who or what exactly
does own it. You use the resource anyway,
and then you worry. Have you violated
copyright law? What kind of example are
you setting for students?
Or you're the principal. You visit a
classroom and see an outstanding lesson
that involves a videotape, or an MP3 audio
file from the Web, or photocopies from a
book you know your school doesn't own. Do
you make a comment?
The Original
Intent
Were the framers of the Constitution or
the barons of Old English law able to look
over your shoulder, they would be puzzled
by your doubts because all of the above
uses are legal. Intellectual property was
created to promote the public good. In old
England, if you wanted to copyright a
book, you gave copies to the universities.
According to Supreme Court Justice Sandra
Day O'Connor, "The primary objective of
copyright is not to reward the labor of
authors . . . but encourage others to
build freely upon the ideas and
information conveyed by a work." In other
words, copyright was created to benefit
society at large, not to protect
commercial interests.
Nowhere is this statement truer than in
the educational arena. In fact, educators
fall under a special category under the
law known as "fair use." The concept,
which first formally appeared in the 1976
Copyright Act, allows certain groups to
use intellectual property deemed to
benefit society as a whole, e.g., in
schools for instructional use. However, it
deliberately did not spell out the
details. Over the years, fair use
guidelines have been created by a number
of groups - usually a combination of
educators, intellectual property holders,
and other interested parties. These are
not actual laws, but widely accepted
"deals" the educational community and
companies have struck and expect each
other to follow.
What follows is a new version of "The
Educators' Lean and Mean No FAT Guide to
Fair Use," published in Technology
& Learning three years ago. As
you take the quiz on page 28, you will
learn that no matter the technology -
photocopying, downloads, file sharing,
video duplication-there are times when
copying is not only acceptable, it is
encouraged for the purposes of teaching
and learning. And you will learn that the
rights are strongest and longest at the
place where educators need them most: in
the classroom. However, schools need to
monitor and enforce fair use. If they
don't, as the Los Angeles Unified School
District found out in a six-figure
settlement, they may find themselves on
the losing end of a copyright
question.
Know Your
Limitations and Rights
It has never been a more important time
to know the rules. As a result of laws
written and passed by Congress, companies
are now creating technologies that block
users from fair use of intellectual
property-for example, teachers can't pull
DVD files into video projects, and some
computers now block users from inputting
VCRs and other devices. In addition to
helping schools steer clear of legal
trouble, understanding the principles of
fair use will allow educators to
aggressively pursue new areas where
technology and learning are ahead of the
law, and to speak out when they feel their
rights to copyright material have been
violated.
Now, take a quiz that will assess your
knowledge of what is allowable-and what
isn't-under fair use copyright principles
and guidelines. There's also a handy chart
that outlines teachers' fair use rights
and responsibilities. Good luck.
[the
chart]
Fair to Share?
Speaking of copyright, if you plan to
photocopy this article for your staff
(which we encourage you to do as many
times as you wish), kindly send us a quick
note at techlearning_editors@cmp.com.
Hall Davidson is executive director of
educational services and
telecommunications at KOCE-TV in
California. He has received numerous
awards, including an Emmy for Best
Instructional Series.
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