In this assignment you will learn about copyright and fair use, as well as proper attribution and the guidelines for multimedia use in education.
Procedures
1. Learn about copyright and fair use by viewing the following three videos and through any other Internet research you feel you need to do.
2. Skim through and save these documents. They might be helpful for you later as a teacher!
Copyright Guidelines for Students
3. Explore creative commons media sources. Creative Commons is an alternative copyright that allows a creator (e.g. photographer) to give more freedom to how people use her creation (e.g. photograph). There are different kinds of creative commons copyrights that give different permissions. Some give permission to use things commercially, others just for noncommercial uses (but without needing permission). Some give permission to adapt a creation (e.g. change it up in Photoshop or make a collage out of it), while others don’t. Creative Commons media is a great way to find multimedia that you can use without asking for permission, as long as you use it the way the creator asks you to.
Creative Commons sources
http://creativecommons.org/
Flickr.com (use the advanced search, scroll down, and click on “creative commons”)
Wikimedia commons
Freeplaymusic
Fotolia (regular copyrighted stock photography, but cheap enough that you can afford to use it)
4. Make note of the following important takeaways:
- multimedia projects must be related to educational purposes in order for you to use someone else’s media
- media elements must be legitimately acquired
- there are limitations on how much copyrighted video and audio you can use (3 min for video and 30 seconds for audio) unless you get them from a source like Freeplaymusic.com then the entire work can be used
- You must always properly cite the works you use in a multimedia project. Properly citing means providing enough information that we know which resource came from which place, and how we can find the resource ourselves.
5. ASSIGNMENT: Find two videos on Youtube that use multimedia (images, music, video, etc.), and critique how well the creator of the video followed copyright. Point out what they did right, and what they did wrong for each video, and how they could correct their mistakes to make them correct. Embed the video in your blog and post your analysis on your blog for others to read and read through your group members’ critiques too. This should give you several examples of right and wrong ways to use multimedia correctly.
6. Important note! After this week, you’ll be expected to use good copyright procedure with all of your multimedia projects, including the Gospel Insights presentations.
FAQs
1. It just seems odd to me that we may not be able to post a song on the Internet that is played on the radio all the time. So radio stations buy the copyrights to the songs before they air them on their stations?
Answer: Yes, radio stations pay a fee for how often they will play a song. That’s a major source of income for music artists. Even Internet Radio stations must pay a fee, although how much that fee should be has been debated in recent court cases. If the music industry won the right to be reimbursed as much as they want, Pandora would probably cease to exist (at least for free).
2. Are Youtube clips free game to use or is that against copyright laws too?
Answer: Youtube clips are fine unless they were put on there illegally. If Person X puts a copyrighted song or TV show episode on Youtube, you shouldn’t then distribute it farther. However, if it’s on Youtube as less than 10% of the original (sometimes you’ll see clips from TV shows, but not the whole show), or if it sells ads to the song being played, then you’re ok.
3. In a local junior high I observed the teacher showing all of “The Boy in Striped Pajamas.” It is an educational and popular movie. Is that against copyright laws?
Answer: You CANNOT use copyrighted videos in class in their entirety for non-educational purposes. So, for example, showing a Disney film after a major Math test as a reward for students is NOT educational. That’s for the purpose of reward or entertainment, and is not fair use.
However, you CAN show a full-length video in class if it IS for educational use. So showing a video in a foreign language that you are learning is fine. Also, showing a whole documentary in history class if fine, as long as you (or whoever you got it from) purchased the documentary. You CANNOT record something off of TV with a VCR or DVD recorder and then show it. Well, actually you can, but only for 10 days. After that, you need to purchase the episode or write the producer for permission.
For more information, I found these links useful. Here and here. Notice question #6 below, which talks about educational videos.
4. Can I play a song in class?
Answer: I think playing a song is probably all right—it’s still less than 10% of the album, in my opinion. Also, if you’re using the song for educational and not entertainment purposes, then you’re fine (see the above discussion on videos).
5. What does this mean for the Internet?
Answer: This is the key difference. You have more leeway in class where students can’t copy and redistribute the material. But be especially careful about posting things on the Internet for millions to see and download. You should only put things on the Internet that are less than 10% of the original, pays for itself through advertising (such as on YouTube, when there is advertising for a song), or when you have permission from the original creator. Or just use creative commons media!
6. Does it have to meet each of the Fair Use guidelines or only one of those guidelines? For instance could a teacher show all of an educational film or only 10% of it?
Answer: Typically, it needs to meet all of the Fair Use guidelines. Many educational videos (such as Bill Nye, I’ve been told) have granted greater privileges to teachers, for up to 3 years perhaps, to use recorded copies of their videos. So then Fair Use wouldn’t apply because permission is already granted. But if you aren’t sure if permission is granted, Fair Use allows you to use the video in class if you purchase a legal copy of the program.
