I am reading the book Copyright for Schools by Carol Simpson. (Simpson, Carol. Copyright for Schools. Linworth, 2005.)
This book is scaring me! First of all, the information contained in the book is pretty confusing. There are many copyright laws, which all seem to have updates and exceptions.
As a classroom teacher, I didn't consider copyright much. My main concern was that students cite their resources for research. I didn't think about the movies I showed in class or making copies from teacher resources.
For the most part, I think I was usually within fair use, but a lot of things in my school may not be. What is my role in this situation?
Now that I know this information, I think I am obligated to share it with my staff. Do I then become a member of the "copyright police?" I can't control what everyone does, and I don't think I'd be too popular if I did. I am going to ask my principal for time to give an inservice on this topic to my staff and see where we go from there.
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End of the AL
6 years ago
I don't want to put myself in the position of being the copyright police.
ReplyDeleteI certainly inform my co-workers and students about what is required of them in terms of copyright and give them resources & tools to help them find copyleft and copyright friendly materials. There's a great copyright friendly wiki with all kinds of great places to find digital media & Creative Commons licensing has been very helpful.
I try to model ethical use always! If I know about copyright, I can steer people more effectively in ethical and copyright compliant directions as they create and demonstrate their learning.