Marsha Veal

Policies Issues Paper

Nov. 11, 2009
FRIT 7132
Georgia Southern University
 A student just copied a picture from the Internet and pasted it to his PowerPoint

presentation. He then found some information on the topic at hand and copied and pasted it as

well without noticing that the image and information were copyrighted. The student has no idea

that he has just broken the law and could be prosecuted. This happens every day to students and

adults as well. Most of the time students and teachers do not realize they are breaking the law

because they think everything on the Internet is free. They are WRONG!

According to Chase (1997), “the issue of copyright law enforcement receives little public

attention. While education institutions have begun to protect themselves from liability, some

teachers, either from a false sense of security or lack of awareness, engage in illegal use or

retention of materials.”

When the copyright issue is brought to the attention of the student, usually their first

question is, “What is copyright?” For the teacher or media specialist trying to answer this

question, it is hard to break it down into terms the student would understand. According to

Lamb and Johnson, “Copyright is granted to the creators of works to protect their interest in the

work and to encourage people to take risks and disseminate information. The copyright law is

intended to protect against unauthorized printing, publishing, importing, or selling of multiple

copies of a work. A fair use law was developed to provide guidelines in the use of copyrighted

materials.” Now the question turns into what is fair use. Fair use laws try to balance the rights

of copyright owners with society's interest in allowing copying in certain, limited circumstances.

After reviewing the copyright policies at the school, I came to the understanding of why
the above example happens so frequently. The policy of copyright is extremely vague and the

consequences are not emphasized. The copyright guidelines at our school are simple, given the

many laws that are designed to enforce it. The policy states that “The LMS and principal will

provide a copyright and fair use chart to all teachers at the beginning of the year”. I have never

received or been informed of the copyright laws at this school until I read them in the policies. I

have noticed copyright warnings near the copy machines in the office but the teachers are not

allowed to use the copiers so we can’t read these laws. I asked several teachers about their

concern with using workbooks and other materials that have copyrights and they said that they

are not very concerned because they have to turn in their materials to be copied and it is up to the

secretaries that make the copies to know the laws and to let them know if they are not supposed

to be copying something.

Copyright laws are also extremely hard to understand and need to be broken down so that

students and faculty easily understand them. The schools in Jefferson County, CO are doing a

great job at exposing students and teachers to the laws of copyright in a manner that is extremely

easy to look up and understand. They have broken the laws into categories and then into what is

permitted and not permitted. Students and teachers would be more likely to use the laws because

they are so easy to read and understand. You can see this plan on the following website:

http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/isu/library/copyright.html

Another problem is that copyright laws are not easily accessible to students and teachers.

One way to solve this is to have the copyright policy close at hand, maybe posted by every
computer in the media center and classrooms. The more the students and staff see and read the

copyright laws, the more they will remember them and follow them.

Schools may also want to create a “Connections” class on copyright. The students could

be taught the laws of copyright and then use it to create projects and share with other students in

the school. You could even have a club called the “Copyright Police”. The club members could

fine the principal, teachers, and students when they are caught violating a copyright guideline.

This would definitely teach everyone the guidelines of copyright.

Copyright is not an interesting subject for most and that is why most people avoid it. To

get teachers more willing to learn about copyright, there could be workshops offered on this

topic and maybe even get them interested by showing how often the guidelines are broken and

the punishments that are involved with doing so. There are also many cute and fun websites that

teach copyright to teachers and to students for example there is one on the mystery of copyright

at the following website:

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/copyrightmystery/#

For our school copyright policy to be more detailed and up to date, it needs to include

points such as:

• The “Fair Use Guidelines”

• “Rules of Thumb”

• “Video Guidelines

• Multiple Copy for classroom use

• Audiovisual materials

• Music

• Software
 • Databases

• CD ROMS

Not only does it need to list these items, but it also needs to explain the laws that affect each one

and the consequences of breaking those guidelines.

After reviewing the guidelines of copyright, I realized how often I have broken the

copyright laws. These laws are not enforced at our school as well as they should be. Copyright

is the law and the law must be followed. It may not be as life threatening as some laws, but it

can definitely have some serious consequences.

References
Chase, M. (1997). Educator’s attitudes and related copyright issues in education: A review of
selected research. Retrieved November 1,2009, from
http://archive.ifla.org/documents/infopoo

Copyright Guidelines. (n.d.). Jeffco Public Schools Redirect. Retrieved November 1, 2009,
from http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/isu/library/copyright.html
l
Lamb, A., & Johnson, L. (n.d.). The School Library Media Specialist: Information Access &
Delivery. eduScapes: A Site for Life-long Learners. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from
http://eduscapes.com/sms/access/copyright.html

Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright (Library of Congress). (n.d.). Library of Congress Home.
Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://www.loc.gov/teachers/copyrightmystery/#