Shawn De Both

Case Study 1
Scenario 2
Scenario 2 of Case Study 1 was about a teacher who excelled in
making creative and engaging lesson plans. Many of her lesson plans
incorporated copyrighted material that was being used under fair use
and Creative Commons. Other teachers, who were impressed with the
teachers work, advised her to upload her lesson plans online for other
teachers to purchase and use. This case study will explore the
parameters of fair use of copyrighted material and issues associated
with her actions.
The case stated that songs from contemporary artists were used
in the lesson plans. The stipulation with using songs is that no more
than 10% of the song may be used, up to a total of 30 seconds. It was
not clear how much of each song was used, but this is a parameter of
fair use that must be observed. The song must also be credited to the
artist. The teacher also happened to use clips from movies in her
lesson plans. These movie clips have parameters as well, such as being
acquired legally. Only legal copies of movies may be shown in a single
classroom for educational purposes. This implies that face-to-face
instruction happens. Movies cannot be copied and redistributed. If the
teacher placed the lesson plans online, it could be copied numerous
times. The final group of copyrighted material is artwork. Artwork has
many stipulations to be used legally. For instance, the teacher in the
case cannot use more than five images from a single artist. However,
the teacher cannot use any images that are part of a copyrighted
collection. For example, Disney owns many images in a copyrighted
group that cannot be used under fair use. In the case, popular cartoon
characters were used in the lesson plan. The teacher should confirm
that these images are not part of a copyrighted collection. Again, these
are just parameters of the different media platforms that were used in
the lesson. The major issue with this case is the sharing online,
possibly for profit.
Most of fair use applies to an individual classroom. A teacher is
not allowed to duplicate or redistribute the materials to others. A larger
issue than that is the profiting of the teacher from the copyrighted
materials. As soon as money is transferred and a profit made, this is a
clear infraction of fair use. Copyrighted materials are intellectual
property, and the unauthorized use of the materials is theft. To
summarize, the case studys major problem is the use of copyrighted
material for personal gain, assuming that the above parameters are
met and upheld.