Copyright for Educators, Cycle 2 - Mar 2010

I'm having trouble getting into the google doc. Maybe I wasn't added/invited?
Thanks, Cynthia

1. In your jurisdiction, what exceptions, if any, are available to Xuan to reproduce any of the above material? Please include how much of a resource and under what conditions.
• The readings this week presented a take on copyright and fair use that seemed much more open to the use of copyrighted works for educational purposes. It appears that Xuan, as a student, has a great deal of freedom under fair use protections. According to the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use in Media Literacy Education, students have a great deal of protection under “fair use”, so long as they only take what is needed for the assignment at hand (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/files/pdf/Media_literacy.pdf) They also counter the opinion (what they refer to as a “myth”) that you can take only a certain percentage of a work under fair use. If Xuan needs the entire chapter from the Flannery book, for example, she should be able to use it. However, if she only needs a particular section of the chapter to achieve here objective, she should only reproduce that much. Obviously, all resources should be cited.

2. Is she permitted to play 5 minutes of the DVD to the class as part of her class presentation?
• She should be able to play the 5 minute segment of the DVD, as it would be covered under “fair use.”

3. List the copyright exceptions in your jurisdiction that may be relevant to educational use.
• Again, the readings and videos this week gave a strong defense of a liberal interpretation of “fair use” for educational purposes for both teachers and students. The copyright exemptions relevant to educational use are found in section 107 of the copyright law. Section 107 states :

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

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

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

Ryan,
It struck me for number 1 that there may be a limitation on her reproducing some of the materials if she cannot demonstrate how her use of them "transforms or repurposes" the work. Also, there could be limitations in light of whether Xuan is using the copyrighted material as a "substitute for her own creative effort." In other words, there is the issue of whether the works, such as the entire Economist article, are necessary to demonstrate learning and not to simplify the effort of writing of her seminar paper. (I'm drawing on the Code of Best Practices doc).

To clarify - cut and paste your comments into my doc, and then post it as our assignment?

Thanks!