Copyright in the classroom and online

From time to time, it is important for educators to review the expectations for honoring copyright. Educators and their students use content prepared by others as part of the work of education and copyright expectations apply to this material.

Here is a great copyright info page from EduBlogger. The front page identifies multiple issues and refers the reader to content associated with each issue.

When I cover copyright with my students I always make sure they are aware of the TEACH act. To my knowledge, this is the most recent legislation addressing copyright and this act specifically concerns the use of content online. The intent of the act is to allow educators to serve online students with the same capabilities they have available in the classroom. I use the act to request that educators consider what might be a distinction between publishing and the intended use of content in an online setting. The key in the TEACH act is the expectation that educators offer content in a protected environment allowing access to students in classes presently served by that educator. If content is provided online to a more general audience, the content is being published and more restrictive expectations apply. 

What about copyright?

Educators in nearly every district are finishing out the year meeting their students online. Those of us who prepare teachers to use technology are attempting to offer suggestions for how educators could (not necessarily should) work with students under present circumstances.

I came across a post from CreativeCommons. org that explored policies related to copyright and whether or not such policies are being relaxed to allow educators more flexibility to deal with students at this time. This report is detailed and there is little point in my efforts to paraphrase what this source provides.

It is my opinion that most educators have learned the basics of copyright and fair use (I hope). I do try to emphasize one issue that might not be obvious. There is a difference between copyright rules for your classroom and copyright as it might apply to posting content to the open web. I refer educators to the TEACH Act in support of the importance of this distinction. My interpretation is that the TEACH act allows students to do online what they can legally do in their classrooms. This was the point of the legislation. Students who learn online should not be a disadvantage. However, the TEACH act requires careful attention to one important detail. Publishing to the Internet without access control is publishing and does not limit the resources made available to students in your class. This is the case whether you have general publication of resources in mind or not. So a content/course management system that allows control of access is important. The fair use opportunities you can apply in a face to face environment can be extended to an access-controlled online setting. It is safest to think in this way

Copyright law may soon be modified to allow smaller claims to be heard

Technology has always made copyright law a topic more should attempt to understand. It became easy to copy and paste all kinds of creative works whether music, text, or imagery. Certainly, educators take advantage of copy and paste opportunities hopefully striving to stay within the limits outlined as fair use.

One of the issues with copyright and fair use is that what is allowed is unclear and this challenge for educators becomes evident in what I would describe as the difference between classroom use and publication. When I try to teach this topic I make use of the TEACH act as evidence for my perspective which essentially is that the use of copied material on the open web (not limited to those in a class and protected to prevent general exposure) is publication and is thus more limiting for most use of content created by others.

The House just approved new legislation related to copyright. If this proposal reaches the Senate floor which has been an issue for proposals coming from the House lately and is approved, the legislation makes it easier for copyright holders to go after copyright violators for compensation. The bill proposes the development of what is described as a small claims court for copyright and proposes that this approach would offer legal remedies to photographers and other individuals who create content on a relatively small scale. If passed into law, I do think educators will have to be more careful.

Caution regarding sale of teacher repurposed content

Cindy forwarded this post from the Heinemann blog site. The post outlines Heinemann's effort to clearly state their position regarding copyright as some educators have obviously taken content from Heinemann sources and repurposed what has been copied as part of content then sold through Teachers Paying Teachers.

The language added to the existing policy includes this material:

Heinemann’s authors have devoted their entire careers to developing the unique content in their works, and their written expression is protected by copyright law. We respectfully ask that you do not adapt, reuse, or copy anything on third-party (whether for-profit or not-for-profit) lesson sharing websites.

We have felt publishers need to move beyond self-contained textbooks to take the opportunity offer readers book-related content and we have made an effort to take this multi-component approach in our own writing. Clearly offering sample lessons and tutorials online makes you vulnerable to easy copy and paste use of your materials by others. Selling this "borrowed" content is particularly egregious.

Part of the problem here is likely the blind eye of the sites serving as intermediaries between content creators and publishers. This lack of oversight seems familiar to the argument made by social media sites (e.g., Facebook) contending they have no responsibility for the content others make available through their service.

I suppose it also important to help educators understand the limits of "fair use".