Copyright for teachers...From Free Technology For teachers by Richard Byrne

Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Bryne wrote a blog this week on Copyright.   It was ironic because this week a friend was asking me about giving credit when we use pictures from the internet. Too often we let our students copy and paste pictures in their reports and projects and forget to give credit.  We need to start teaching them how to give credit for what they borrow.  When I saw the blog Richard published, I had to share part of it with you...

Copyright and Creative Commons Explained by Common Craft tells the story of a photographer who uses Creative Commons licensing on her images. 

Copyright on Campus was produced by the Copyright Clearance Center which is a for-profit organization. That is probably why the video lacks a balanced discussion ofsection 107 of Title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States. Rather than making you go look it up, I've pasted the content of section 107 below. (Richard pasted)

"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work; 
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and 
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. 
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

The Copyright Foundation offers a thirteen page guide (link opens PDF) to Copyright for Educators. Included in the guide is a glossary of important terms. At the end of the guide you will also find some lesson plans that are available on the Copyright Foundation's curriculum pages.

For helping students learn about Copyright Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright is a use resource produced by the Library of Congress. Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright is intended to help elementary school students understand the purposes and functions of copyright. "

I invite you to follow Richard at http://www.freetech4teachers.com 

He always has something new everyday...

I'd like to thank Richard Byrne for his blog and his valuable information.  I always learn something new and can't wait to share.