It's Not Stealing. It's "Borrowing without Permission"

 
    Copyright. The one word that every teacher should know, and surprisingly, many do. But over the years, the term copyright has been associated with a simple shoulder shrug, followed by a "who's going to know?" turn of phrase. No longer does the phrase "copyright infringement" strike fear into the hearts of educators; instead, the World Wide Web has opened the floodgates of copyright issues, and unfortunately, its complex layers have been whittled down to a simple "just cite it and you're good" mentality. Let me tell you this, friends- we are not good. 

    In an article published by Education World title "The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use: A 5 Part Series" (2010), Linda Starr take readers down the rabbit hole of Copyright and Faire Use policies, laws, and procedures, ending with the inevitable truth that many educators (myself included) are violating these laws daily. According to Dicitonary.com, the term copyright is defined as "the legal right granted to an author, a composer, a playwright, a publisher, or a distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work." Simply put, copyright protects any artists tangible, creative rights to their works- monetarily and creatively. As teachers, we are quick to preach plagiarism and discourage our students from copying another's work to claim as their own. However, if we were to closely examine the laws of Copyright and Fair Use, we would find that many of us fail to practice what we preach. 

 For example, showing the The Crucible film at the conclusion of the novel with attached compare/contrast notetaking easily falls under violation of the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act. While the teacher and/or school may purchase and own the DVD, showing this film to multiple classes of students (who do not own the film themselves) prohibits filmmakers, actors, producers, directors, etc. from reaping the financial benefits of film purchases from 100+ students. While this lesson is completed with honorable and educational intentions, it fails to qualify as fair use and clearly violates copyright laws. In other words, it's just "bad manners" (Starr 2010). 

To clarify the confusion, it's important that we first fully understand the difference between copyright and fair use. 

COPYRIGHT

According to Starr's article, "U.S. copyright law, found in Title 17 of the United States Code, establishes broad criteria for copyright protection. According to the law, copyrightable work must be tangible and creative." In simpler terms, any idea that has been written down or recorded (tangible) and is an original idea (creative) falls under copyright terms. To further clarify matters, an artist is not required to register his/her works to fall under copyright terms; they just need to have it recorded/printed. 

When in doubt about the copyright terms, an educator simply needs to begin with one simple question: Is the work 95 years old? Per the 1976 Copyright Law, any text is protected by copyright terms for 95 years. However, it would be unwise to assume that an older text "graduates" from copyright protection. When in doubt, always ask permission. Likewise, considering the current timeline of our technology Internet boom, little to no technology meets the age criteria; therefore, any online sources should automatically be assumed copyright protected.  

FAIR USE

For such a straightforward criterion, why do so many educators find following copyright difficult? The easy answer: confusing regarding the Fair Use Doctrine. Per Starr's research, "the fair use doctrine was created to allow the use of copyrighted works for criticism and commentary, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and classroom instruction." If an educator is using a shortened works for educational, non-commercial, non-profit uses AND IT DOES NOT TAKE INCOME AWAY FROM THE CREATOR, then they would fall under Section 107 of the Copyright Act. 

While the inclusion of section 107 is intended to protect both the rights of the creator and legal actions of the educator, in many cases, the lack of understanding of Fair Use has blurred the lines between legal action and copyright infringement. Simply citing evidence or using a work of art for "educational purposes" does not clearly fall within Fair Use Boundaries. Per Section 107, the following boundaries must be adhered for the fair use policy to apply: 

• the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
• the nature of the copyrighted work.
• the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
• the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

As noted above, not only does the fair use act protect the creator's profits, but it also protects the amount/portion of the work being used. Rather than copying and distributing an entire novel (as a substitute to purchasing multiple copies of the book), an educator may copy less than 10% of the work (i.e. a chapter or film clip). In reviewing my earlier commentary related to the Crucible film, while the intention of the assignment is non-profit, educational usage, it clearly violates the monetary aspect of the creator's copyright as well as fails to fall under fair use due to its portion (entire film) versus film clip. 

 TAKE AWAYS

Many of us are guilty of violating the Copyright and Fair Use laws on our little islands. We find the ideal piece of work and the excitement of teaching and engaging our students overshadows the long-term, legal repercussions of copyright infringement.  But just as we preach plagiarism and original thought, it is our duty as educators to just as clearly practice these standards. This does not mean an end to every engaging piece of literature, film, or artwork shown in our classrooms. Instead, it tasks us with the need to teach ourselves and our students to simply "ask permission." Just as we take pride in our own individual creations, it is our responsibility to protect the rights of those who have bestowed their artwork on our world. Helping students to understand the nature of copyright laws and the purpose of copyright laws is the first step to ensuring that our creative artists, poets. filmmakers, and writers can continue sharing their craft - without the fear of plagiarism, financial ruin, and anonymity of their life's work.