Thing 8

The issue of copyright has been a topic of discussion with my colleagues for a very long time.  I have served as a Media Specialist in four school districts in six different buildings.  I have dealt with hundreds of teachers on this matter.  And the one constant in all that time is a general lack of concern/knowledge about copyright underpinned with either indifference or willful non-compliance with copyright law.  Those parts of the law that are not convenient to what a teacher wishes to accomplish in the classroom are often ignored.  There are exceptions to the rule but many teachers tend to be like someone who consistently speeds at about 8 miles per hour over the speed limit.  They know they are breaking the law but they are counting on the fact there are not enough cops to catch everyone and that the nature of their offense does not merit much of a punishment.  And since I am not a copyright police officer I usually limit my role to information giver and gentle reminder of where the clear bright lines of the law lie.

Towards that end I designed a non-threatening quiz to share with my current staff about copyright.  The goal is to get feedback and to promote the ongoing dialogue.

A quick copyright quiz

True or False

1.            A teacher may print copies of internet pages to keep in a folder for student reference   __________

2.            A teacher may use clip art and images obtained from the internet to create a lesson plan and post that plan on a lesson plan sharing website __________

3.            The copyright for material created by a teacher for use in school to teach students belongs to the institution ___________

4.            It is permissible for teacher to copy a school owned  VHS tape on to a DVD disk so that they may continue to use the material in class as the school switches from VCRs to DVD players__________

5.            It is not permissible to record student performances of copyrighted musical works and sell the recordings to parents ___________

6.            It is fair use for a teacher to make copies of pages of math problems from old workbooks to use as worksheets in their classroom __________

7.            Any image found in a Google image search may be used in any way by students for school projects ________

8.            After winning a state championship a football coach may create a season highlight video using Queen’s “We are the Champions” as the soundtrack and sell it to parents to raise money to send players to camp _______

9.            To protect your copyright you must file with the government before you post anything on the internet.  Otherwise anyone may use what you created without your permission.  _________

10.          Something called the Sonny Bono Act has extended copyright protection to corporate authored works to 120 years.  This is also referred to the as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. __________

11.          When a school is found to have multiple violations of federal copyright law the Media Specialist is beaten with sticks by FBI agents in front of the school at high noon.  _________

21 teachers responded to the quiz.  (correct responses are listed with the number of respondents who answered thus)

1.       19 answered true

2.       17 answered false

3.       18 answered true

4.       7 answered false

5.       15 answered false

6.       10 answered false

7.       17 answered false

8.       16 answered false

9.       18 answered false

10.   9 answered true

11.   Several recommend true and further punishment as well.

I believe the questions 4 and 6 indicate the level of willful indifference to copyright that most teachers practice at times.  Those questions are the subject of the most frequent circumnavigation of copyright practiced by teachers.  Question 4 is about conversion of formats of owned materials.  Teachers often just shrug it off when I explain that they do not have the right to convert formats.  I turn a blind eye to it even though I know that violation is fairly common.  It is not the role of the Media Specialist to be the copyright cop - acting as one tends to interfere with good communication necessary to to me to do my job in other areas of my job.  Question 6 is more of an old school issue but still widely practiced violation.  When teachers are told there is no money for curricular materials they adapt by playing fast and loose with the law. 


CREATIVE COMMONS

Below is the screen shot of the Creative Commons copyright for the Rockford HS Library webpage.