Truth: According to
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, Fair Use is
the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some
circumstances, especially when the cultural or social benefits are
predominant. When using media, the
question to ask yourself as an educator is, “Am I using this media for the
purpose in which it was originally intended?” Is the material being used for
instruction or entertainment? When the
material is being used as a reward, then it is being used in the way it was
originally intended – for entertainment.
Then there would be a copyright infringement issue; however, when the
material is being used for instructional purposes, this is not the original
intention on the material, so educators are protected under the fair use
laws.
Copyright law does not exactly specify how to apply fair use
and that gives the fair use doctrine a flexibility that works to the advantage
of users. Apply the “rule of reason” – “If
the user of copyright materials generates social or cultural benefits that are
greater than the cost it imposes to the owner” then the educator is safe in
using the materials. Most educators fear
that the copyright police are out to get them, but in reality “fair use is
flexible and NOT unreliable”. It will
protect educators when using materials for educational purposes.
There are four factors that judges refer to when deciding
what is fair use. 1) the nature of use,
2) nature of the work used, 3) extent of the use, 4) the economic effect . In reviewing the history of litigation
concerning fair use, the big question was – Will use cause excessive economic
harm to the original source? Again, the questions to ask yourself are: 1) did
the use transform the work by using it for a different purpose than it was
originally intended? 2) Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount
considering the nature of the copyrighted work and of fair use? If the answer to these questions is yes, then
there is no worry about fair use being challenged by the court system or the
originator of the material.
I my school system, each school pays a licensing fee to use
movies for entertainment purposes. That
way we can show movies for entertainment or their original purpose with no fear
of retribution from the film maker. So
between the protection of fair use and this licensing fee, our school has
little to fear from any action against our school or individual educators. Several years ago, teachers were more fearful
of using multimedia excerpts in class lessons.
I am seeing teacher move away from that fear and use materials more
freely, especially in science and social studies fields. I do think we need to take care in going to
the original source and not just a YouTube excerpt from the original
source. We do want to be an example to
students and not just blindly excuse the misuse of copyrighted materials, but
there needs to be a healthy balance. And
as a side note, I loved how the source document has a last little except saying
when using this document rely on the fair use doctrine. Good advice!
Sources:
Retrieved from 2/15/15:
http://mediaeducationlab.com/sites/mediaeducationlab.com/files/CodeofBestPracticesinFairUse_0.pdf
Cindy Team 6,
ReplyDeleteThe thing that stuck in my mind after reading your blog was the rule of reason. Basically it is all about continuing the owner’s original goal in putting out the material in the first place is what that statement says to me. Educators are tasked with generating social and cultural benefits to their students every day and they don’t always have all the answers. A good educator will go seek information to further get their point across to their students be getting information from an outside source. I think there are people out there who know this and that is why people are flexible about fair use laws with educators more so than others because they know that we are using their materials as supplements to get our message across to our students instead of using their work for profit. Within your list of four factors that judges refer, I am going to have to say that I feel the nature of the use is the most important and that may be why it is listed at number one. I feel like if you are using the material to supplement a lesson or to help get a point across in the education sector, and in no shape, form, or fashion are looking for profit or credit from someone else’s work, the nature of the use us within the fair use rules. I also think that it a great that your school system pays a licensing fee to use movies for entertainment. I am unaware if my system does this and since I am unaware that probably means that we don’t. I too see more and more teachers using video clips in their lessons to add engagement for student success. I think this is great because students really get “the big picture” of a concept when they can see how it relates to real life.
Hi Cindy,
ReplyDeleteI know Fair Use is scary for many of us. Could we get sued? I think that as long as we are conscious of using another person's material and try to use it correctly the law is on our side especially in education. The guidelines are gray but I think if we check them for what we plan to use such as music or video and try to adhere to the policies we are doing what we should. It is great that your school system pays for licensing fees, I think it helps teachers bring more real world examples into the classroom. My school system has not provided licensing. Media Specialist are required to conduct professional development on copyright and fair use guidelines as I am sure someone in your school does as well. It is all to protect the creator who could be you.
Being proactive versus reactive is always the best! I agree that copyright law and fair use policy can be daunting but it is important that fear not take over the classroom. My school district does not pay for licensing of multimedia. Teachers in my district rely Unitedstreaming for multimedia videos but I know YouTube videos are being used (probably violating copyright) in the classroom. Although I believe that entertainment is not my job (I am not a singer, dancer, athlete, or comedian), the students in my charge need entertainment in all aspects of their life. The Google generation (or ADD generation) requires stimulation and multimedia in the classroom could give it to them.
ReplyDelete