Copyright

Summary: Copyright impacts many mediums, organizations, and individuals. According to http://www.copyright.gov/ copyright is protection to authors of any type of work - published or unpublished from having their work copied. Stop and think how that pertains to your daily life? Do you follow copyright laws? Do the teachers that you supervise follow copyright laws, let alone teach their students about copyright? Now think very closely, maybe copyright is something you have addressed, but is it followed up on, are teachers taught how to implement it, is it mentioned in the Student Handbook? These are all questions that need considered to ensure that copyright is being addressed in our organization.

Overview: We as an organization should recognize how we are putting our organization, as a whole, in a dangerous situation if we continue to glaze over the issue of copyright in our schools. Copyright needs to be addressed at the teacher, student, and family level. If even one of those areas is overlooked then we are suggesting that copyright isn't important. When, in fact, it is important if we look at not only the lawful ramifications that can occur if copyright laws are not followed, but also what are we teaching our students - that it is okay to steal and copy others' ideas? We need to take a stand by using the following options to demonstrate the importance of copyright in our schools, homes, and lives!

For example, think of your own website or when making handouts for a presentation - do you demonstrate appropriate use of copyright? Do you understand fair use and how it relates to you? The "Fair Use" doctrine allows limited copying of copyrighted works for educational and research purposes, which is discussed in more detail at http://www.csusa.org/caw/caw_2006_teachers_articles_basics.htm.

Option 1: Provide an in-service training that addresses copyright. Teachers need to be instructed on what copyright and fair use means. This is important because teachers need to understand copyright to be able to teach it to their students and to ensure that they are indeed following copyright laws themselves. Teachers need to recognize that students need to be taught what is copyright and how to complete projects without violating copyright laws. This is important to our organization because we refer to cheating in our Student Handbook, which could be elaborated upon to include copyright and therefore protect our students. In-service trainings would be a great opportunity to provide teachers with ideas for teaching copyright.

• Pros: attendance would be great as all teachers are required to attend in-services, our technology person could run the training (which would be low cost), all teachers would hear the same information, teachers can then set the standard in the schools where they work, students will be exposed to proper use of copyright by observing their teachers implementing it
• Cons: teachers may think of it as yet another "thing" to do, fair use is a confusing area, finding the time for the in-service training,convincing teachers of copyright's importance, finding volunteers to write the addition to the Student Handbook

Option 2: Monitoring that our teachers are actually teaching copyright to students. Students need to be able to define and demonstrate copyright and fair use. They must have a basic understanding of copyright and fair use that is developmental appropriate. This is important to our students because many of them are able to easily copy and paste from the Internet, but do not understand that is considered copying. Students need to demonstrate how to complete activities within copyright laws. This is important because often students can identify examples of violation of copyright, but are guilty of making copyright errors themselves. For example, students need to know how to cite and reference material.

• Pros: provides students with the skills to successfully follow copyright laws at a higher level, addresses PA State Standards for technology, reading, and writing, teaches students to value others' work as well as their own pieces, protects students and teachers from violating copyright laws
• Cons: teachers may have difficulty finding the time, it may be challenging to teach young students what is copyright, and at the same time it might be difficult to teach older students as they may be unfamiliar with copyright and demonstrate reluctance relating to it

Option 3: Hosting an after school copyright session for families, students, and the community to attend. Helping parents to understand copyright and fair use so they can model proper fair use and also enforce that their children are adhering to copyright laws at home. Parents need to be provided with a training or similar format that shows them what copyright looks like and how it is not just something addressed in schools but also in outside communities. Providing teachers, students, and families with not only a definition of copyright, but also the consequences of copyright violation at the school level is important because many schools do not address copyright or have a set protocol to follow if it is violated.

• Pros: could be organized very low cost, could be held in conjunction with an already organized Back to School Night, shows families how dedicated our school community is to protecting their students, promotes school community
• Cons: low attendance, some families may think it isn't important, may be difficult to convince teachers to attend as it is after hours

References:
http://www.csusa.org/caw/caw_2006_teachers_elementary.htm
http://langwitches.org/blog/2008/04/20/teaching-copyright-in-elementary-school/
http://www.copyright.gov/
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/copyrightlaw.html