4)+Copyrights+and+Fair+Use

Copyright and Fair Use

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Web 2.0 tools, like myspace.com, youtube.com, and flickr, are the social side of on-line communication and can be possible pitfalls with the copyright law. “Copyright is a difficult law to understand; the law has quite a bit of room for personal interpretation.” (Miller, (2008), p14). The spirit the law in layman’s terms is to protect the creative property of the individual. One of the commonly practiced exceptions to the copyright law is fair use. It is widely used in the education. One potential violation of copyright would be that the subjects have not given permission for their appearances on the internet, especially if it is a performance, like a battle of the bands. Another hazard would be the background music. On social network sites like MySpace, intellectual property may be taken and claimed as someone else’s. Another example is flickr.com, where you can share your photo album with the world. Since a posting on Flickr.com is considered part of the public domain, submitters are cautioned that other people’s works of art may inadvertently be published without their consent. In fact, that is exactly what happens in the case of Leicester vs. Warner.  Plagiarism is often related to copyright violations. Attaining research papers on-line is easy and some companies are claiming that the vast majority are plagiarized. Since many companies and individuals are using the internet for research, it is possible that some students may become unsuspecting victims. 


Miller states “Web 2.0 is the social side of the internet where people can communicate with others and contribute their own content; this is known as "social networking." (Miller, (2008), p14). Web 2.0 is communication, which is quite different from the past methods. One particular issue with this new form of communication is the ease to copy material, whether it is audio, visual or interactive. Copying the intellectual property of another individual is the heart of the copyright issue. Title 17 of the U.S. Code and the Copyright Act of 1976 are the applicable laws today. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) applies mostly to international policy of the foreigner’s intellectual property rights. The wording in the act refers directly to Title 17 and the Copyright Act of 1976. The crux of the copyright issue is the individual’s rights to his or her intellectual property and another’s individual’s right to the freedom of speech. The constitution declares both rights. The copyrights laws were created to balance both rights. The exception to the copyright law is fair use, where certain individuals may use the copyrighted material for the progression of the culture. In fact, as the Supreme Court has pointed out, fair use keeps copyright from violating the First Amendment. (Temple Univ. ) Teachers are especially familiar with the fair use clause of the Copyright law. It may not only appear in regard to their lesson material but also their contract. A teacher may not have exclusive rights to his or her creative works as prescribed into their collective bargaining agreement. Another confrontation with copyright law and the teacher may come in the district’s Acceptable Usage Policy (AUP) of educational technology. Many district policies have explicit protocols when using copyrighted material. Intellectual property has been around since the beginning of the human civilization. The issues that surround the individual’s rights are still applicable no matter what manner the type of communication takes. “The basic doctrines of copyright law protects works appearing on and distributed via the internet” (Schimmel, Fischer, Stellman,(2008), p64) .


 The school board should have a policy with regard to the use of copyrighted material and the fair use exception. This should be included in the student and employee handbook as well as the AUP of the district. The district has the obligation to protect the intellectual rights of the students, the teacher and third parties. The teacher should become familiar with not only the policies of the school district but also with the copyright laws and the fair use exception. Generally speaking, if the copyrighted material was transformed from its original use and the kind and the amount of the material was reasonable, then the standard of Fair Use is met. A general rule of thumb for music is no longer than 30 seconds; otherwise it is considered an abuse. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;">To prevent possible theft, there are websites for copyrighting your masterpieces. Miller (2008) finishes with the thought that Web 2.0 tools are all about socialization and there needs to education about copyright issues rather than blocking access to the tools.