 |
| We are in a digital age
Jacober,
W. (2011, August 11). Matrix. [Online Image]
jacober/14146317398/in/photolist-ny4zj7-
|
‘What
is copyright’, and ‘why does in matter in an educational setting’ are some of
the questions I had asked myself before writing this post, and I would like to
share with you some of the answers that I have found! Original, tangible work
is protected by copyright which ensures intellectual property rights, or the
right to use that work to the creator (Figg, 2013). Rudimentary copyright law
dictates that copying, distributing, performing, displaying or adapting digital
media is prohibited, unless permission is obtained. However, given the range of
multimedia available, and the need for these resources copyright also invokes a
‘fair dealings’ law in Canada which dictates that if these resources are used
for private study, research, criticism, review, or news reporting it is not
considered an infringement of copyright (Figg, 2013).
So
what does this mean for Canadian educators? In a nutshell, you may not show a
video without first acquiring public performance rights, or the video must have
a Creative Commons (CC) licensing that allows for distribution (Figg, 2013). Nonetheless,
we are in the midst of a digital age and the need for access to open
educational resources cannot be understated. Resultant from this was ‘Creative
Common’s’ founded by the Center for the Public Domain, in order to encourage
new copyright licensing that promotes open sharing of all creative works; flickr
is an excellent example (Figg, 2013).
 |
| Example of Creative Commons Licensing: Google Images
Sankar,
S. (2010, October 9). Pumeria Flower
[Online Image] Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Plumeria#/media/File:Fallen_Plumeria.JPG
|
In
order to avoid copyright infringement we should encourage our students to
create their own images and/or videos and apply a creative commons license. If
students must use photos from the internet, they can visit either Flickr or
Fotopedia which will have images with creative commons or a clear identifiable
license (Figg, 2013). Google Images also has the option of finding creative
commons licensing photos (as displayed to the left); Jane Lofton provides a great YouTube tutorial for
finding images with proper licensing (either no conditions or attribution only
which involves citing the image if used) (Figg, 2013). Therefore, although
copyright is legally mandated, it is often poorly understood amongst educators.
When in doubt, encourage your students to develop creative works of their own;
the Clever Sheep has created a comprehensive list of tools/resources for your
students to do just that! Good luck and happy creating! :)
References
Figg,
C., (2013) Handy4class presents: copyright for tech-enhanced teaching.
Jacober,
W. (2011, August 11). Matrix. [Online Image] Retrieved from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wendelinjacober/14146317398/in/photolist-ny4zj7-
Lofton, J. (2014). Finding copyright-friendly
images using Google Image Search. In YouTube.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf0ksrW_Xpo&feature=youtu.be
Lucier, R. (2009). Creative commons chaos. In The Clever Sheep. Leading in New Directions.
Retrieved from
http://thecleversheep.blogspot.ca/2009/02/creative-commons-chaos.html
Sankar,
S. (2010, October 9). Pumeria Flower [Online Image] Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumeria#/media/File:Fallen_Plumeria.JPG
