MAC Blog Post 3 week 1 - Response to Lori Martin

Response to Lori Martin:  Your blog post really caught my eye because we do not have a media specialist in our school and therefore I am very lost on copyright issues many times.  I'm sure there are many people in my building whom struggle with this topic just as I do.  It would be wonderful to have someone available to give teacher trainings.  I talk with my students about copyright laws for their science fair projects, but I'm sure I am missing a lot.  When our students do reading projects where pictures are required, I have seen them copy and paste pictures without giving credit.  They just do not think about it as it is so easy to do.  You are right about the very gray area and I really wish our school had someone to help us in that area.  I have researched it but it is still a bit confusing to me.  (Above photo is an original photo by Susan Calland)

Lori wrote:  As a media specialist, I had to become a type of guru on copyright laws.  With information at the tip of our fingers, copyright information needs to be more prominently discussed then ever before.  Almost on a daily basis I discuss copyright laws with my high school students as they live in a world of copy and paste. Too many times I have stopped a student from copying and pasting without giving credit where credit is due.  It has been a big issue in the high school when students create a project and add their favorite songs to them.  Ever year for pre-planning I review copyright basics with my teachers to review and answer many of their own questions concerning if they are ok to use pieces of books, movies, music and such.   To keep the school on the right side of the video copyright issues that plagued schools, I purchase a movie license ever year so we can use videos at the school over the close circuit system.  One main concern that I hear from teachers is if a video, movie or show could be recorded and shown in the classroom without infringing on copyright laws.  This is a gray area as educators can record an educational show from certain channels as long as it is done at the school and destroyed after a short period of time.  There are many gray areas when it comes to education and our district has a full team of people that work to keep us up to date and answer any questions or concerns we come across when it comes to copyrights.