Section 1. Understanding Copyright Learning Objectives Students will understand: that copyright law is designed to promote creativity and the growth of knowledge by considering both the rights of owners and the rights of users how fair use ensures that copyright law does not limit First Amendment rights the ways in which copyright law has expanded to protect owners over a period of time that the flexibility of fair use enables it to be relevant and useful to many different kinds of creative communities Materials Song: "What's Copyright?" PDF of Copyright Song Lyric Readings PDF Attached Reading (A): Understanding Copyright This reading provides basic concepts about the relationship between copyright, fair use and free speech. Reading (B): Loren, L.P. (2008). The core purpose of copyright is to promote creativity and the spread of knowledge. Reading (C): Tushnet, R. (2004, December). Lesson Plan: Understanding Copyright Engage interest. Listen and discuss. Check reading comprehension. Critical thinking. PRODUCTION ACTIVITY.
If not for Congress, Superman, Lassie and Scrabble would be free for anyone to reproduce tomorrow On Jan. 1, a whole raft of artistic and intellectual works will be making their way into the public domain — or they would be if Congress hadn't extended copyright terms for the umpteenth time in 1998. At its core, copyright is meant to protect authors and creators. But as we've seen recently with a battle over Sherlock Holmes, copyrights can sometimes prevent well-meaning fans from showing the depth of their appreciation for a work by becoming creators themselves. These days things that were published before 1978 enjoy copyright protections of up to 95 years, but that wasn't always the case. Under the rules Congress made before the most recent term extension, rights-holders of older works were protected for just 75 years — at which point the work would enter the public domain and be free for anyone to use or riff upon. By that older baseline, the public starting tomorrow would have a huge amount of new and culturally relevant material to work with. Superman "A Christmas Carol" M.C. Lassie
Current Issues in Higher Ed Copyright Not the post I promised, but this week has been a little... weird. Mostly for good reasons. One of the good things this week was that I met with the University Senate Library Committee to touch base on copyright issues. I was asked to provide a summary of some current hot copyright issues in higher education - so here's that summary (with bonus links to more info!) Georgia State Case (aka Cambridge University Press et al v. Individuals at Georgia State University were sued over the use of journal articles in password-protected electronic reserves and course websites. Oral arguments were heard in June, and an opinion is expected at any time. More information: My own prior posts on this case.Kevin Smith's "A Nightmare Scenario for Higher Education" UCLA Case (aka AIME et al. v. The Regents of UCLA, as well as some individuals, were sued over the conversion of video content owned by the University to online streaming formats. Golan v. Campus licenses (CCC; CPC; Canada) Google Books settlement
Report: Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds is the third in a series of large-scale, nationally representative surveys by the Foundation about young people’s media use. The report is based on a survey conducted between October 2008 and May 2009 among a nationally representative sample of 2,002 3rd-12th grade students ages 8-18, including a self-selected subsample of 702 respondents who completed seven-day media use diaries, which were used to calculate multitasking proportions. Full Report (.pdf) Toplines: 2009 (.pdf) 2004 (.pdf) 1999 (.pdf)
Study: Piracy actually helps small films make money "Harry Potter" and other big-budget blockbusters benefited from the shutdown of Megaupload more than small- and medium-size films. (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures) Stopping Internet piracy may benefit filmmakers -- but only some filmmakers, and only some of the time. That’s one of the implications, at least, of a newly updated study by economists at the Munich School of Management and Copenhagen Business School. That did happen for some films, like “Harry Potter” and “Ice Age” -- a finding some economists have reached before. How is that possible? For “Harry Potter,” that’s no big deal -- everyone knows about “Harry Potter,” courtesy of Warner Brothers’ massive advertising budget. “We believe that our study offers an important implication for policy,” the authors write -- but an “important complication” may be more accurate. Update: These findings are, to no one's surprise, pretty controversial.
Copyright & IP Updating copyright and intellectual property laws to meet the challenges of the networked environment has been a key focus for Congress, the courts, and state legislatures for many years. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, peer-to-peer file sharing and digital rights management, legislation to create additional protections for databases, the Stop Online Piracy Act, the Protect IP Act, orphan works, and more have dominated the agenda. In addition, ARL, working with the Center for Social Media at American University and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property in American University’s Washington College of Law, prepared a Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries. Below are links to information and resources on key topics in copyright and intellectual property. Fair Use Read more >> Author Rights Read more >> Legislation Read more >> International Read more >>
Analyzing TV Commercials.pdf (application/pdf Object) eSchool News Finding copyright-friendly photos for the Google Images generation Searching and citing usable images is easy once students learn the basics Teaching students to respect the intellectual property of others is important in this digital “cut and paste” world we live in. One great project to share with students that can better help them understand how and when they may use images created by others is the Creative Commons project. Creative Commons is designed to span the gap between full copyright and the public domain. The Creative Commons project provides content creators the opportunity to state ahead of time how their images may (or may not) be used. When an image creator posts an image online and applies a Creative Commons license to it, there are four conditions/restrictions they can apply to the image: 1. Here is a sample of what a Creative Commons license may look like. Now, of course, in the “old” days, we would suggest students write to image creators and ask permission to use their image.
Article: Can These Videos be Shown in a Classroom? - Library Video Company How many times have you seen the phrase "For Home Use Only" on a videotape and wondered if it was really OK to show the program to students in a classroom or a library setting? While there has been a lot of confusion in this area, the U.S. copyright laws are quite clear in offering guidance on this question. The question can easily be answered by examining the context in which the video is being shown. First, you'll need some background. There are four main criteria that must be met before an educator should feel comfortable in showing a videotape or DVD in their classroom. The Report of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Report No 94-1476, which accompanied the passage of the Act in 1976, provides assistance in interpreting the four requirements of the classroom exemption. 1) The term "instructors" is defined as the designated teacher of a class and may also include a guest lecturer or substitute teacher.
Decoding the Dystopian Characteristics of Macintosh’s “1984” Commercial Lesson Plan Preview In this minilesson, students explore the dystopian characteristics and symbols presented in the "1984" Macintosh commercial and analyze the comments that it makes about contemporary society. After discussing what they know about the year 1984, students read the voiceover text from the "1984" commercial and share their reactions to the passage. They then view the commercial and consider how their feelings have or have not changed since first reading the voiceover text. back to top "1984" Macintosh Commerical Analysis Tool: Students explore dystopian characteristics by reading the voiceover text and viewing images from the "1984" Macintosh commercial and responding to written prompts. Exploring texts from popular culture in the classroom can open doors for students: Further Reading National Council of Teachers of English. 2005. Standards Resources & Preparation
How Not to Steal People's Content on the Web The best content marketers aren't afraid to share. Share content. Share links. Share ideas. Share data. The thing is, sometimes marketers get a little protective of their stuff because there are less-than-scrupulous people out there who take content and then try to pass it off as their own. But sometimes it isn't a matter of people being jerks -- they might just not know how the internet "works." Bonus: Download our collection of royalty-free stock photos here -- no attribution required. So to clear up any confusion and ensure you (and anyone you do business with) is following generally accepted internet sharing etiquette, this post will outline how to cite internet sources. How to Cite Sources in Blog Posts & Long-Form Content Assets Blogs are hotbeds of source attribution issues, probably just due to the sheer volume of content the format offers. Citation Scenario #1: Citation Scenario #2: Now let's say you have data you'd like to cite in a blog post. Citation Scenario #3: Make sense?
Copyright Advisory Office Teacher Assessment Assessment -- Teacher Process for Digital Video With a video project involving so many different steps, it may be easiest to assign a point value for each phase, and then a final point value for the project presentation to the class. There are many assessment rubrics available for project-based multimedia which can be easily modified to fit your personal methods of assessment. You may also try the following online rubric generators to help you create easy, customized rubrics for your projects: Also, don't forget how assessment can be clarified and authenticated both by constructing rubrics with your students before projects and by allowing peer-to-peer assessments using fairly objective rubric standards. Sample Digital Video Project Rubric Print-Friendly Version
The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education | Center for Media & Social Impact Coordinated by: The Media Education Lab, Temple University The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, American University Washington College of Law The Center for Media & Social Impact, American University With funding from: The John D. and Catherine T. And additional support from: The Ford Foundation, by way of the Future of Public Media Project Introduction What This Is This document is a code of best practices that helps educators using media literacy concepts and techniques to interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. This guide identifies five principles that represent the media literacy education community’s current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials, wherever and however it occurs: in K–12 education, in higher education, in nonprofit organizations that offer programs for children and youth, and in adult education. What This Isn't This code of best practices does not tell you the limits of fair use rights. Fair Use Conclusion