Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

There has been lots of talk in the media lately about copyright laws. Copyright is something that everyone needs to have a full understanding of so they know if and when they could be doing something against the law. But "copyright" is no longer the only player in the game, fair use and creative commons are also policies to be considered.

As a future teacher, there are two big ways that copyright laws will effect me. First, I need to be aware of what I am presenting in my classroom, and how I am representing the source. If I were to show an educational video, lets say Bill Nye the Science Guy, from a DVD that I bought with departmental or personal funds I would be in the clear! But, if I were to pull up a clip from YouTube of Bill Nye doing an experiment and show that to my class, I would be breaking copyright laws. The second way I will be encountering copyright laws is with student plagiarism. It is important for students to know what exactly plagiarism is and the consequences of it so they do not break any copyright laws.

Fair use says that I, as a teacher for a recognized nonprofit educational institute, may use portions copyrighted material in the course of my lessons (even those on a class website) without permission or paying a fee. This means that I can make numerous copies of a worksheet out of a book to give to students to work on, or I can play "The Element Song" for my chemistry class.

Because this all wasn't complicated enough, they decided to add a third element. Creative Commons is similar to copyright in that you are still the owner of what you make, but it gives you the ability to share your product with others in the way that you want to. If I was to use a creative commons poem about ecosystems in the rainforest to share with my class I would have to attribute it, give credit where credit is due. Depending on the author of the work, I may have to follow some other rules.