Copyright Laws

Copyright laws have always been confusing for me. I was in theatre growing up so copyright laws were a big deal for putting on productions. I was always curious about the ins and outs of copyright laws. I’m glad that this class has addressed this curiosity.

Here is what I learned about copyright laws. First I learned that a copyright can only be issued on a material item. There has to be proof before it can be copyrighted. Papers, music, written dance cerography can all be copyrighted. Ideas and concepts cannot be copyrighted because they are not written down.

Second, I learned there is a lot of gray area in copyright laws. In some cases people get away with copyright infringement where in other circumstances some people would not. It depends on who you are, where you’re from, and who you are taking the ideas from.

Third, I learned that duration and quantity play a major role in copyright laws for teachers. This topic is under “fair use”. If you use something for only one semester you probably will be in the clear. If you use something for multiple years then you are more likely to be breaking copyright laws. Also the amount and number of copies you make can make a difference. If take only a excerpt from the text then you are safe. If you copy a whole book, then you are breaking copyright laws. If you only make a few copies of something, you are safe. If you make a thousand copies of something you are not.

I believe that copyright laws are so hard to determine because it is so gray. I feel that right now they have a decent handle on the laws as written. I don’t feel they properly enforce the laws because in the difficulty in monitoring everyone.

In education I believe resources should be available to teach our children. As long as we don’t make money off of someone else’s work, we should be able to use it to teach. Another stipulation is we need to give credit to the author. The author deserves all the credit for his or her resource.

I feel that as educators we need to teach about copyright laws. I was never educated in this subject. Children need to be aware of copyright and its importance. This way they can be informed and inform other people. This is how I would handle copyright laws in my classroom. Teach the kids properly about copyright and they will most likely follow it.