As educators, we are all familiar with the terms "copyright" and "fair use, " but are we? I am sure, like many of you, I have heard of "fair use" but probably not well enough to explain what it actually is. According to the video introduction to the "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, " the definition of fair use is as follows: "Fair use allows you to use copyrighted material without permission or payment when the benefit to society outweighs the cost to the copyright owner." Perfectly clear, right? I think not. Fair use provides educators with some opportunities to use copyrighted materials in the realm of education. The most difficult part is knowing what is and is not accepted. There are no cut and dry rules regarding the subject. Much of it is left up to best judgement and it may vary with different situations.
The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education states that "fair use is flexible, not unreliable. While it does protect the owners' rights to their creative work, copyright laws do not provide specific "laws" and guidelines when it comes to fair use. Being a rule follower by nature, this is very difficult for me to handle...is what I am doing okay or is it not okay?
When determining if fair use is applicable, there are two questions that you may ask yourself.
1. Did I change the intended use of the work or use it for a different purpose?
2. Was the amount of material taken reasonable?
More than likely, if the answers to both of these questions are yes, you are probably in good shape, but again, fair use is left up to interpretation. The most important thing to remember is that "economic harm" does not come to the owner through your own use of his/her material.
Remember...clear as mud!?!
This brings me to a common myth about fair use as taken from the Code of Best Practices:
Myth: "Educators can rely on 'rules of thumb' for fair use guidance."
The truth is, there is no "rule of thumb" to follow or relay on. You've probably heard that 30 seconds of any song, so much of a video, text, etc. are all okay to use without infringement of copyright. However, there are no real set magic number to guide you. Because copyright is a case by case basis, it is hard to limit every piece of work to such limited constraints. However, it is up to the educator to use common sense and to be reasonable when choosing materials to use, and how much. "Fair use is situational, and context is critical." There could never be a law that would include every imaginable use for a piece of work. Therefore, there is no "rule of thumb." These are basically guidelines to help guide users in the right direction.
Fair use is not designed to limit or "catch" educators, but rather to allow them the freedom to use copyrighted materials to enhance the education of others. We each have to determine if the use of certain copyrighted materials is fair, based on reason.
As we, as educators learn more about fair use policies, it is up to use to share this information with others. Learning about fair use does not hinder us, but empowers us. So, we "need to be leaders, not followers, in establishing best practices in fair use."
References:
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education (2012). From the web site: http://mediaeducationlab.com/code-best-practices-fair-use-media-literacy-education-0
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ReplyDeleteI remember a media specialist telling the faculty many years ago, that fair use is not a law, it’s a defense for after you get in trouble. I never forgot that concept. Essentially, what she was saying is that you can’t just follow a safe set of guidelines like using 10% of a song, and live happily ever after. Because 10% is not a hard and fast ‘rule’. There is no rule per se. It’s a guideline that we follow in the hopes that if we are ever singled out for persecution, we can defend ourselves successfully with the fact that we did not utilize ALL of the material, merely an ordained, allowable portion of it.
ReplyDeleteBut the truth is that there’s no legally allowable portion. Just the suggestion that with good faith, we use portions of works to provide our students with examples for educational purposes only. We do not benefit personally (i.e. monetarily) or professionally.
But what if the legal community decided that the act of using someone else’s intellectual property DOES benefit us professionally and monetarily because it contributes to our state of being employed? The lessons and materials we find or create with the help of someone else’s work, directly supports the having and holding of our positions as educators? Are the creators of that intellectual property then entitled to a portion of our paycheck?
We could go on and on, and round and round with this topic. But the bottom line is that we all do it, and please God, let none of us ever find ourselves in the spotlight of a legal zealot!
As an educator we are responsible for knowing so much. We must know copyright laws, child abuse protocol, be a mandated court reporter, a nurse, social worker, parent, and then a teacher. I believe that teachers have been using copyrighted materials for decades and a problem may have arose that led to the "fair use" laws. As a teacher, I would use what ever I could to reach and teach my students first and ask questions later. Not the best practice I must admit but what was the worse that could happen? In my present media specialist job, it is now my responsibility to notify and monitor teachers as they are education students. At the beginning of the year I did an in-service on copyright use and the teachers were amazed. What would normally be a fun Friday treat to watch a Disney movie turned in to a nightmare. Once I delivered the information to the teachers I then told them to use good measure and creativity to avoid any mishaps. So far, so good.
ReplyDeleteBrandi, thank you for the following reminder:
ReplyDelete”Fair use is not designed to limit or "catch" educators, but rather to allow them the freedom to use copyrighted materials to enhance the education of others. We each have to determine if the use of certain copyrighted materials is fair, based on reason.”
I know that I constantly must use outside resources to teach my Reading and Social Studies classes because the text books I have are outdated, inadequate, and boring to 7th graders. In addition, we are not dealing with the lecture/note taking generation anymore. These students are Twenty-first Century learners, which means that we have to step our game to keep them engaged with various forms of multi-media. I know that if it weren’t for videos, images, and even music, my lessons would not have the same impact. We also must create lessons that will result in authentic learning. Therefore, it is so important to discuss fair use with the students when they are developing and creating multimedia products. I always stress to them that they must site their sources and avoid plagiarism of written text. Respect and correct use of intellectual property is just as important. Always nice to be reminded of that!!
"Clear as mud" is the best way to sum up my thoughts on copyright and fair use, too! As a teacher, I constantly pull resources, videos, etc. to use with my Reading/Social Studies students. Your blog has made me take a step back and reflect on the copyright laws or fair use policies that enable me to use these resources. I agree with Amanda that it takes a lot to engage our students and for them to have "authentic learning". When my students are assigned projects, I spend a lot of time discussing plagiarism and copyright. Since I teach 4th graders, I don't expect them to cite their sources exactly, but to give credit to the original authors. I do tell them that I can tell if they printed it straight from the Internet-the vocabulary in the article isn't vocabulary that they use on a regular basis in my classroom. As an educator and future media specialist, this is one realm of the "media world" that I need to research and learn more about.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that fair use is one of those words that can be ‘muddy’ when trying to see what is best tool or material for a project or lesson someone is creating for a class. This debate is widely put into my mind when I use a technology tool called GooRu Learning. It is a tool that someone can create lessons for their classes either with the content given through the tool or one that you can create for you lesson. It makes me wonder if people know that their content is being used in this platform with or without their knowledge. I have to agree with the rule of thumb theory you purposed with the statement saying “Fair use is situational, and context is critical.” The content of what you are using is always important when using it for education. I thought it was great that you had the two questions you have to ask yourself when it comes to fair use. I learned a great deal from your blog post.
ReplyDeleteThe rules over copyright have always been unclear to me. The media specialist is always getting questions about whether a resource can be used. The answers are always "muddy". I am glad that you have given me questions that I can use when I am thinking about using resources which may be protected by copyright laws. This topic is one which we all need to research and share with the teachers and students at our prospective schools.
ReplyDeleteClear as mud is the perfect description of fair use policies. Like you, I'm a rule follower, and it stresses me that there is no hard, fast rule for how much of someone else's work I can use. I find this to be especially sticky now that the internet is such a treasure trove of teaching resources. There are so many good ideas out there and as teachers we want to find the cheapest way possible to use these resources so as to stretch our salaries as far as possible, but what's stealing and what's fair use? The answer, unfortunately, varies depending on the medium, the purpose, and the creator of the material. Sites like TeachersPayTeachers or TeachersNotebook make it easy by offering resources for low cost or no cost with a clearly outlined Terms of Use included in everything you use.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be nice if everything we found to use with our students had a clear Terms of Use included? As media specialists I feel like that part of our jobs would be a lot easier if we could offer a cut and dried answer to teachers who just want to know if they can make 30 copies of a worksheet or show part of a movie to supplement their instruction.
I love your title “Clear as Mud!”. That’s how I think many people (including myself a times) feel about copyright and fair use. What I think is most important is that we, as media specialists, understand the basic principles and measures we can use to gauge what constitutes “fair use”. I know as a classroom teacher, the one person I would go to first is my Media Specialist if I have any question about this. When I am the “go-to expert” in the building, I want to be able to explain it in layman’s terms to teachers who sincerely want to adhere to the laws and guidelines.
ReplyDeleteOne of the two questions you posed in your blog was “Did I change the intended use of the work or use it for a different purpose?” I think can explain often what is done in classrooms. Yes, the work is often “transformed” or altered in completeness/ delivery. When a teacher is including a “snippet” from a video to teach a particular concept or open a class discussion on a topic of study, then they are using it for a different purpose. If they take a clip from a movie on Jackie Robinson to open a discussion of segregation, the intended use of the clip has been changed. The clip was not shown for entertainment purposes (it’s original purpose), but for educational purposes. I believe this would fall under “fair use”. But again, the topic is “clear as mud”. ☺