Tag: copyright

More on “Fair Use”

Here a few more comments related to yesterday’s post on “fair use” in educational settings.

My understanding of what educators should encourage is based largely on my reading of the TEACH Act and related commentary (e.g.., Georgia Harper). The very necessity of the TEACH Act suggests to me that educational fair use should not be interpreted as extending to sharing products online. Note that fair use standards were clearly limited to “face to face” classroom settings before the TEACH Act and limited to specific online circumstances (e.g., protected environments) after the TEACH Act. I can now include limited amounts of video, text, music, etc. in my online classes in the same way I could previously use such resources in my FTF classes. As I understand the 2002 law, the notion that an educational product using protected resources (small quantities or whatever) offered in an open way online does not fall under the fair use guidelines of the TEACH Act. Open access amounts to publication – whether for commercial purposes or not. If there are other more liberal guidelines available informing what products resulting from educational experiences can be offered online, I would like to be directed to these resources.

A recent analysis from the EFF entitled Recut, Reframe, and Recycle is now available. But, be careful to recognize the difference in what advocacy groups suggest and what exists in law or through such review processes such as CONFU. Organizations (Center for Social Media) have a way of being focused on an organization-f0cused agenda rather than attempting to balance the rights of all parties that may be impacted when a more formal decision/recommendation is made.

Again, I am not a legal expert (however, I do play one on the web – 😉 ). Unlike those who interpret things in a very loose way, my advice is unlikely to get you in trouble.

Whatever your interpretation of fair use, I stand by my position that expecting students to rely on their own talents to create all components of products they want to offer is the best policy. I would argue that it is nearly always better as a learning experience to develop your own skills or collaborate with willing partners to create products.

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I must respectfully disagree

I hate to begin the new year by complaining, but I find that I must. Perhaps I should suggest that my comments are intended to offer a different perspective. I guess you are free to interpret my remarks as you will.

This post was prompted by a recent post on the 21st Collaborative blog concerning intellectual property. I do not intend to single this blogger out – the post just happened to be the trigger for these comments.

I respectfully disagree with the position that “our kids” are being limited because copyright law is too restrictive. In my opinion:

  • It is inappropriate to decide what you have a right to do with the property of someone else (digital or not). It is especially troubling when educators take this position. The notion of entitlement in education is very dangerous.
  • Those who advocate the use of the content of others often target a specific type of material making artificial distinction between situations/formats in which it is acceptable and unacceptable to use the work of others. I find it especially troubling when some advocate the use of the digital objects created by others while assuming they personally should be compensated for the delivery of information in other circumstances or in a different format (e.g., paid for teaching, paid for presenting).
  • The argument that someone else has made enough money on a product cannot be an excuse. If you object to the cost of a ticket do not attend. If you object to the cost of a CD, do not purchase. While you can probably get away with appropriating digital content, the income a talented individual has generated hardly seems a reasonable justification for theft. To me, there is something wrong with acting on this premise in some circumstances (digital content), but assuming you cannot in others (sneaking into a theater because the movie is too expensive, stealing the book because it is over priced).
  • I think a sound argument can be made that creating your own digital objects is the best learning experience. Write your own material. Take your own pictures. Converting the ideas of others into your own method of representation is a superior learning experience to relying on the creativity, talents, and physical representation of someone else. If the focus on the “polish” or impressiveness of the product encourages the use of music, video, computer code, artwork, etc. created by those with greater skill, the focus on personal learning has been lost.

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Not so funny when it is your data??

I have struggled with the copyright issue in several past posts. In my opinion, part of the problem seems to be to get people to examine the issue of “rights”. What is it they have a right to do? Why do people who have the free choice to ignore a resource if they disagree with the expectations of the creators, feel they have a “right” to ignore the expectations of those who created the resource.In my own strange way, I find the resentment of those who feel enraged because of the liberties MySpace and Facebook have taken when their personal data an interesting reaction to a very similar situation.

I wonder if they see the similarities themselves. You felt you made available information under certain conditions and now you find others have a different interpretation and have used your information for purposes other than what you intended. It is a frustrating position to be in – isn’t it?

The participatory web now or soon will need an infusion of resources. The transport system (e.g., Google) will be able to survive on ad revenue, but Google and other participatory web enablers only pass information around. Someone has to create the information and mechanisms to support the labor required have yet to emerge. The writers have already begun to strike. Now, perhaps, so have the consumers.

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Boy Scout Copyright Patch

I am a regular TWIT podcast listener. In a recent show, Leo spent a significant amount of time commenting on a Boy Scout “patch” for learning about copyright, fair use, etc. The tone of the comments as well as comments provided by other technology sources (boingboing criticism) was critical because of the connection with the Motion Picture Association of America and the “narrow” position on copyright being promoted. To me, this is a situation in which everyone is “right”, but everyone seems to talk around certain realities. Copyright is probably overly restrictive, but blatant stealing of content occurs. Too many use the extreme positions as justification to do whatever they want to do.

I tried searching Boy Scouts of America to see if there was a position at the national level, but did not find anything. Presently, this appears to be California “project”.

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Copyright – Berkman Center White Paper

A recent White paper provided by the Berkman Center for the Internet and Society contends that copyright law represents one of the major obstacles to the use of the Internet in education. Their paper provides a nice summary of copyright law (copyright fundamentals) and through several case studies examines some significant areas of frustration. As an instructor, this resource would make a good “assigned reading” and provide a nice way to generate discusison.

I find myself identifying with the examples and situations the authors provide, but I also identify with a party not well represented in this review – those who created the content being copied. While it is true that without copyright it would be easier to access content, utilize content effectively in instructor presentations and incorporate content in student authored products, I feel the authors of this review make a fundamental assumption that may not be realistic. Would the content exist without the protections afforded by copyright law? When I read the white paper, my reaction is often – it would be nice to be able to that, but if you could do that someone else might do this.

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Copyright Resources (for administrators)

A student in one of my classes brought a copyright resource to class and I thought I should pass the resource on. Technology and Learning offers a copyright primer and chart for administrators (you may have to register to use this site). I have to bite my tongue when I see that a resource has been created for administrators, but if I say anything more I may get myself in trouble. Hall Davidson (the author) has made an effort to use concrete examples and organize issues within a convenient table.

The trouble I have attempting to understand copyright is that the language of copyright law always seems vague and my mind quickly jumps to very specific examples that remain unclear. Here is an example based on the chart provided by Technology and Learning and not the original law or related cases. One topic within the chart concerns the use of copyrighted characters (e.g., Bugs Bunny) and the description of violation claims – “Copyrighted characters may not be used without permission for any school purpose other than instruction.” This actually surprised me because I would probably not assume I could use an image of Bugs or a recording of “that’s all folks” for any purpose. Then I started to wonder about the meaning of instruction. Does the word “instruction” mean use of the image/sound as an example that preserves a focus on the original use of the protected resources (e.g., a discussion of copyrighted material, a discussion of branding as a business strategy) or does it mean the use of a resource as part of a general educational enterprise (e.g., creating a stamp of bugs and using this stamp to reward good student work). See what I mean by the problems that arise when considering specific cases?

I have not been an administrator now for several years. Perhaps if I was presently in such a capacity, I would be able to think more clearly about such issues.

That is all folks.

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Explaining Fair Use, Copyright

The Duke Law School has decided to use a new approach to explain some challenging concepts – copyright and fair use. The idea is to embed core ideas within the story line of a comic book. The storyline follows the adventures of a filmmaker and her struggles with the reality of fair use. The link I provide offers access to a paper and Flash version.

Library of Congress Workshop

Resource produced by the Center for the Study of the Public Domain.

See Andy Carvin’s Waste of Bandwidth for a more detailed account. It was his post that brought this resource to me attention. Andy’s post contains some additional information regarding the sharing of resources across blogs and the license that allows such sharing.

An aside – encountering an example of an online comic is timely for me. I gave an exam in my grad EdTech class a week ago containing a question that asked students to evaluate the potential of an online comic book as a multimedia format for presenting complex ideas. The question was more focused on some of the multiple media vs. multiple modality issues raised by Mayer. The examples in his research articles looked like the panels from a comic book to me. So, for my students who also follow my blog, the idea was not as unrealistic as you thought.

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