Copyright

Copyright has always been a touchy subject when it comes to the classroom. So many teachers don't know or understand the laws and some simply choose to ignore them. Many teachers violate copyright laws on a daily basis not realizing or not caring that they are breaking the law and setting a poor example for their students.

I read the articles for this week and also researched a few resources on my own. I wanted to be sure I had a proper understanding of what the law allows and does not allow when it comes to copyright. I researched some information on the United States Copyright web page (http://www.copyright.gov/) and was surprised to learn that not only are literary works protected by copyright but so are pantomimes / choreographic works as well as sculptural and architectural works. It really makes you think twice about what copyright laws you may have infringed on without necessarily knowing it. Another point I found very interesting is that there is no "international copyright" law that protects from unauthorized use of a United States copyrighted source in another country. Something that is copyrighted under law in the United States may be freely accessed by a citizen of another country depending on that country's specific copyright laws.

There have been many instances throughout my education where I have witnessed copyright infringement. In many music classes teachers have copied sheet music instead of purchasing a copy of the song for each student in the class. Some of them even mentioned the fact that they had illegally copied the music but were not too concerned that they had broken the law. I have also had many professors in college who copied pages from a textbook for students to reference so that their students would not have to spend the extra money to purchase the entire textbook. Many of them also acknowledged that this was a big "NO NO" but that they wanted to be sure we received the information within the copyrighted material. And of course there were those teachers who passed out unauthorized copies of copyrighted work who were not even aware they had done anything wrong!

I believe teachers need to be the facilitators of copyright and to explain the laws and rules to students from an early age. I think showing a video such as the one in our diigo readings this week is a great way for students to begin to understand what is appropriate and what they are not to do when using copyrighted material. I think that the information that is given should always be age appropriate and it should be made very clear exactly what is expected of them as students. Also teachers should exhibit proper copyright practices in the classroom. Modeling proper behavior allows students to observe the desired use of copyrighted material throughout their education and display this behavior when given an assignment that requires them to do so.