Copyright issues, and why my butt is scared!!
Wow, so plagiarism and copyright issues has become something of a topic on campus at my school. Trying to teach the children about these topics has become somewhat of a challenging task, and now that I've seen the copyright videos, I'm not sure whether I'm more or less comfortable with what I've shared with my students so far and how to continue on.
The duration of copyright was somewhat news to me, I've always wondered once something has been copyrighted, how long does this actually last for? This is a question that I actually have been asked by my students, so it's nice to have a definitive answer now.
It seemed to me at first that there was a lot of elasticity to the whole idea of fair use. However, after hearing our instructor's explanation of it and it's "narrow loophole" i began to understand it much better. The use of the cartoon movie to explain it was extremely helpful, once I was halfway through it I felt as though I really had a grasp on the concept. Creative ways to teach these types of ideas makes all the difference in the world to me. And who doesn't love Disney movies?!?
Creative Commons was taught to me early on in this degree program. I guess I have used it in the past, but never realized that there was actually a name behind the practice. I think it's a great way to be able use materials and also pay homage to the person who created it through giving them credit.
Kim –
ReplyDeletePlagiarism and copyright is a big issue at my school as well, particularly with the images the students use in their projects. We all try to make it easy for them and just tell them that they have to give credit to the original artist. I think one of the issues that our students don’t have to worry about in the Fair Use arena is that they are not doing the work for profit or commercial use. I give them the free image sites and the creative commons site to look at but those website too ask for them to include the name of the creator. In the end, we encourage them to take their own photography or do their own art.
I did like the cartoon movie as well in explaining the concept of fair use. I think the younger we get this notion of copyright and fair use introduced to our students the fewer copyright infringements there will be when they get to college and in the business world.
Kim,
ReplyDeleteI teach second grade and most definitely introduce the word "copyright" and its definition. I taught them this concept when they were working on a research paper. At the same time they were working on this project, they were working on their second grade music program. In music class, one of the students raised his hand and, when called upon, he told the music teacher that he didn't think they could do this music program. The teacher asked why and he proceeded to tell her that "he and the other students" did not have copyright permissions. She then explained why it was okay for them to do the music program and how they have copyright permission.
I too, feel more confident about understanding copyright laws and I wish that more people took the time to learn why these laws are important. This was a great post Kim.
Keep smiling!
Hi Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteYour students are very lucky to have you as their instructor!! Thank you for sharing and going over the details of copyright$. Have them all say $200 per hour and in some cases $500 per hour for entertainment attorneys fees. Copyrights matter, especially when it comes to recognition and money. I agree with you regarding the Creative Commons explanations in this activity. That was very valuable information that I will use with more confidence now. There is so much fine print in all these legal clauses. I was glad to hear the explanation of how the creators of the copyright video got away with using Disney movies! That was incredible creativity. Even my children stopped playing video games to see that video. I’m sure they watched it because of the ingenuity and not because it happened to have pieces of all of all their ‘favorite’ movies! I would like to have been a fly on the wall in the Disney boardroom when that video was discovered. I wonder what they said? Hey, after graduation we will be creating big projects like this!!
This is definitely where the rubber-meets-the-road when it comes to copyright, how do we teach our students how to honor and respect copyright when common usage, our powerful technology and the power of the media companies is so out of proportion. It is not easy when it's part of our culture to share and to make new stories from the old ones that we grew up with.
ReplyDelete