Module 6 Legal and ethical uses of digital information and technologies

The Official Government Explanation of Fair Use

The owner of the copyright has "the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords" (U.S. Copyright Office 1). This is found in sections 107-118, with certain limitations in the copyright law.  In section 107, one of the most important limitations is titled "fair use." Court decisions over the years have changed the meaning of "fair use." Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, "such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research"(1). There are 4 factors that state whether the use is fair or not fair.  The "use" is either for non-profit or commercial nature, nature of the copyright, the amount used compared to the whole document, and how much value the information has that is being used. Deciding whether something is fair or not fair is not easily determined.  There is no specific rule that will say if something is fair or not fair.  Even if you site the course of work, it does not grant you permission for use.  In summary, the following gives you freedom of fair use:

1. quotations around the experts' review, and clarification of the observations,
2. summary of quotes or news articles,
3. reproduction of damaged copy, reproduced by the library.

The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use: A five-part series

Copyrights were developed to protect the author from others trying to copy their work.  They were also created with the goal to compensate the author when other writers wanted to use the original work. "According to Dictionary.com, the exact meaning of  the word copyright is "the legal right granted to an author, a composer, a playwright, a publisher, or a distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work."  Authors do not need to register his or her work for it to be copyrighted, all it needs to be in is tangible form.  Copy right does not protect you against facts showed in work, systems or ideas, but it does protect the authors' expression of ideas and opinions.  When there is no way to obtain permission to use the copyright issued document, you should avoid using the writing at all.  If there are questions and answers that need to be addressed, you should contact an attorney.   There is a large amount of work that is copyrighted, and only a small set that is not.  Items that are not copyrighted are slogans, ideas, short phrases, or discoveries, to name a few.  There is a rule of thumb that experts go by on deciding whether or not a writing is copyrighted; "when in doubt, assume a work is copyrighted and ask permission to use it."  There are many loop holes in society, and this goes for getting around copyrights. "The fair use doctrine was created to allow the use of copyrighted works for criticism and commentary, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and classroom instruction."  Many educators claim this amnesty, and it is safe when you are using the information for instructional use.  A few guidelines as an educator to follow are; the reading must be only one chapter, working can't exceed two pages or 10% of the work, and a poem must be 250 words or less.  There won't be a prison sentence if you violate copy right issue, but if you do interfere with the authors' income, there will be some legal issues.  The internet is not in the public domain, and it is the code of the websites that is copyrighted.  "Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works" is a global governing body that watches the internet, but every country has different laws on copyright and the internet.  When using website you should avoid copying the site's HTML code and downloading graphics.   School use has its "cannot" also.  You cannot install shareware software on school computers, make copies of software owned by your school, and alter freeware for commercial use.  Part four mentions that educators have a set of guidelines go by when using multimedia projects.  Projects that are copyrighted can be used for face to face instruction, peer workshops and conferences, and directed student self study.  The reading continues to say to make sure you give credit to the source when it is due.  If you are worried that you have used the source on the web too much, the best to check it out is to compare it to the original source, and make sure it is not copied word for word.  Nancy Willard states that, "school districts are liable for any copyright violations committed by their staff, and the area with the greatest potential for liability is the district's public website."  Willard continued to give 5 steps the district should take to combat copyright infringements:

1. Establish a process to ensure that all materials on the district website are closely evaluated.
2. Provide professional development for teachers and instruction to students about defamation, invasion of privacy, harassment, and copyright law.
3. Include an immunity provision in the policy.
4. Take prompt action if accusations are made.
5. Be prepared to stand up for staff or students if false accusations are made.

Besides teaching the students new skills to help serve their society, teachers need to inform students on what a copyright is, and the duty on not breaking copyright laws.  

About Creative Commons

"Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools."  This nonprofit organization helps you set up your work so others people can view and use your work.  It gives you flexibility and freedom to let people edit your work, or use your work free from copyright infringement.  Songs, videos, scientific and academic materials are located on this site.  Allowing your work to be freely used gives you the power to let your ideas help other people and the people who have used your material can building upon their ideas.  Having everything centralized  will show the full power of the internet while not breaking any copyright laws.  

Creative Commons as it Specifically Relates to Education

Many schools do not have the financial responsibility to get updated text books.  So the teacher is teaching outdated material and in effect, the student is learning outdated material.  Open Education gives the teacher updated information and the information is continually updated by various teachers.  Open Educational Resources that reside in a public venue that have been released under an open license allow anybody to use and view them.  

Reflection

I originally thought that if you wanted to safely use information from the original document, you can go through the US Copyright Office, however I was wrong.  The safest way to obtain permission is to contact the copyright owner. I am curious with the steps and the amount of time this will take.  Towards then end of the reading on copyrights it mentioned, "it's important to recognize, however, that when you buy or download software not in the public domain, you do not actually own the software; you merely acquire a license to use it in accordance with certain conditions." I don't agree with this statement; if I purchased the software and the owner gained a profit with my money, I deserve to use it how ever I want.  They mentioned you will only get in trouble if you hurt the the creators profit.  I am helping the creators profit, not hurting it, so should be able to call the software mine.  Creative Common sounds really interesting.  I like how they mentioned that you have the choice about what people can do with it, whether it is editing or expanding their ideas on that particular topic.  Open Education is a great idea!  I really appreciate that it is free and teachers continually update the information that is presented.  Very impressive that the Obama administration plans to put two billion dollars into Open Education to make it accessible and a valuable resource in today's education.

Rubric Evaluation
Summary Paragraphs: Good,    5 points
There is one well-developed summary paragraph per reading.


Reflection Paragraph: Good     5 points
One or more reflection paragraphs are well-developed and show deep thinking about the readings.


Quality of Writing: Good      5 points
Writing is clear and contains no more than 1 spelling or grammar mistakes, with clear progression.


Connection To Readings: Good     5 points
Reflection paragraph make a strong and coherent connection to each reading.