Copyright Laws: The Importance of Copyrighting in the Classroom

Copyright Law and Technology by Elizabeth Langran and Glen Bull

For this week’s blog, I decided to read an article that is debated daily- copyright laws. I found this article by Langran and Bull to be very insightful for current and future teachers as to what copyright laws must be followed inside of the classroom. Langran and Bull explained that “Copyright is not a fixed entity; in reality it is malleable and constantly changing, due to the influence of interested parties. In recent years, technology has been the catalyst for revision of copyright laws and the introduction of new legislation” (24). I believed that this was an important point- as future teachers we need to be aware of these changing legislations so that we, as well as our students, can abide by the current copyright laws, especially when we use technology. As a guideline to students and teachers alike, Langran and Bull included four factors that when weighed will help us decide whether or not our material qualifies for fair use, or if it must be cited: “1. Purpose of use 2. Nature of the work 3. Amount used 4. Effect on the market”(25). There are many new materials created daily that our students may want to incorporate into their projects, videos, and writing. As teachers, it is our job to make certain that our students understand these copyright laws and the importance of such legislation. I found this article to be extremely helpful with the different domains of copyright use, and I suggest that my blog followers check out this article for clarification as well as to reinforce the knowledge you have.

As teachers, we must educate our students when and how to incorporate copyright materials into their work. In my classroom I might start with a discussion about how we feel when others “steal” or use the work or ideas we have spent time creating. Afterwards, I would explain to my students that there are laws that protect our work so that we get credit for our efforts. I would also explain the various laws such as fair use and citing in a manner that the students would understand. To assess if my students have retained and understood the importance of copyright and copyright infringement, I would group students together to create a PowerPoint on a topic of their choice. Further requirements of their project would be that each person must create two slides to contribute to the overall PowerPoint. On one slide I would ask that they follow fair use laws. On their second slide, I would ask that students cite their source(s), pictures, or music that they incorporated into their project. Hopefully this project would reiterate to students when citing is necessary and when they are protected by fair use. Overall, I feel that is necessary that all students learn about copyright laws to help protect others’ work, along with their own, as well as to expand the knowledge of all students.