Monday, August 10, 2009

Copyright Law

In developing a workshop this week on copyright in schools, the various aspects have consumed my thoughts. It is my dream to have every staff member at my school be completely literate in copyright law; however, I can count only on a handful knowing some very basics. This is very hard for me. I stand back, each school day, and watch as teacher after teacher violates the law, mostly with photocopying. I am hoping that the workshop I have prepared will give them the resources they need to help alleviate this problem.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for putting together your presentation. What is your plan for disseminating the information to the staff members at your school?

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  2. Serena, you and your group did a great job on your presentation. I learned a lot! I see a lot of violations at my school as well. In fact, I myself have done it as a classroom teacher. Now I know better. The question is, what do I do about the violations around the building? Some are permanent exhibits, others are at the moment violations. I talked to my principal about it today. (I teased him because he framed and hung some pictures I had taken without asking me or putting my name on the pictures.) He said that I could give a staff inservice! So, I guess I'll start there. I liked the way you gave a survey at the beginning of the presentation and then addressed each of the questions as you went through the information.

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  3. Pam, you don't need to be the copyright police. Just help teacher find the information they need on copyright issues so that they can make the right choices. Also, offer them alternatives that are legal!

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  4. I hope to disseminate the copyright info at my school in much the same way we did with our group presentation. It is my intention, with permission from my co-authors, of course, to use our group powerpoint or a slightly altered version (again with permission!) to present to my staff a strong overview of the law. With this, I feel like I will give most a whole lot to think about that they previously had no knowledge of. From there, I will, like we did for our workshop, provide print resources in my library for reference (both books and handouts such as what is found in our "Copyright for Schools" book)and for check-out, as well as web resources for teachers to consult on their own. Further, I will invite all "unsolved mysteries" to be brought to me so I may give my best shot at answering my staff's copyright questions.

    Our presentation, though aimed at teachers, was given with full knowledge that our audience had some level of background in copyright law. To tailor it to teachers at my school, I would slow down certain elements, print for example, and spend less time on areas that are not an issue in our building (such as videos). I would probably revisit the topic again later in the year to review and answer questions as well as address concerns of the staff. I'll keep my eyes open throughout the year to see what kinds of violations may be occurring, not to police my staff, but to know what areas need more discussion, reminders, clarification, etc.

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  5. Serena, your presentation was great, and made me think about my role as a future librarian. I just feel I need to constantly brush up on the law. I just read the copyright book for 724 last spring semester and when I took your initial survey, I realized I had become unsure about some things. I will need to make sure I'm on top of it in order to do the best that I can do to help keep the school within the law as much as possible.

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  6. Serena, I agree that trying to enforce fair use and copyright laws is a difficult job. Fortunately, I am not at a school yet so I don't have to deal with it, but I don't think I would be comfortable as a new/rookie librarian telling veteran teachers and administrators not to do something because of copyright violations.

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  7. Judith, anyone coming out of school is more up-to-date on most subjects than those who have been in the work force for a number of years. Unless their professional development units have been on copyright law you could very well be the expert!

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