Copyright conundrum

This week’s essential questions are: “What is Fair Use?” and “What is the purpose of Copyright?”

Copyright laws seek to give ownership protection to those who create a new work. “Work” is defined broadly to include images, video, words, dance, and more. In this way, creators of original works are entitled to control who copies their work and to be paid for it. It is meant to advance the arts and sciences because people (and corporations) are more likely to devote time and energy such creations if they can support themselves or make a profit.

The topic is incredibly complicated, and copyright rules vary from country to country. I was surprised to learn that within the US system and many others, there are almost endless circumstances under which there is no clear answer as to whether or not you’re in violation of law. As copycense.com points out, much of the information available is not accurate. Some companies want more protection than they are legally entitled to, and are not above “educating” the public in such a way as to increase their profits.

I read a multitude of sources about what kind of use is allowable for educators. In Thailand, where I teach, it seems clear that teachers are not in violation of Thai law for the “reproduction, adaptation, exhibition or making available by a teacher for teaching” as long as it is not for profit. However, as Teflpedia points out (in a neat article on the educational uses allowed by difference countries), Thailand is also one of the few countries to impose jail terms for copyright infringement!

Much of the information I came across focused on the US system of fair use (other nations have similar concepts such as fair practice) which evaluates four criteria. Very briefly these are, 1) how you use the work and if you “transform” it, 2) you much of the work you use, 3) what kind of work it is, and 4) the effect your use has on the work’s market and value. This article has a useful summary table and this site has a checklist of pros and cons for trying to gauge fair use.

Many teachers use recently broadcast videos, poems, or articles in their classes. Luckily for me, the few videos I use have been purchased from PBS or similar for classroom use. I can direct my students biology news online; there isn’t much I need to save from year to year. My primary use of copyrighted material is of digital images. At first I felt pretty confident that using the occasional image in the context of an original powerpoint presentation qualifies as fair use. However, this nicely organized article from UMUC suggests that such use is valid only for 2 years.

Using images in biology is extremely helpful in visualizing complex systems and processes. It would hurt my students considerably to remove them. So, what are my options? I have been using creativecommons recently, so hopefully I can, with time, find adequate replacements for the copyrighted images. (Not likely - it narrows the images for "teacher" from about 40 million to 200.) I might try finding and contacting the owners of some of the best images for permission. What about the two year limit? Is that a guideline, a suggestion, or a law? What is my moral obligation? How much time can I afford to invest in this?

A further dilemma is whether to allow my students to use the powerpoints for review. I can post them on the closed network provided by the school, but the number of copies and distribution then goes beyond my control.

I was also interested in the use of old, released standardized tests, but did not find much information. I did, however, find this extrememly interesting article about fair use of current (not yet released) standardized test questions.

I want to do the right thing. I want to give proper consideration to the creators of the work. I want to give my students the best possible tools for learning. I want to feel confident in my understanding of the spirit of the law and the specifics of how it applies to me. So far, though, the whole thing just makes me uncomfortable. We have another class on copyright; hopefully that will get me closer to figuring this out.

Thanks for the image found through creative commons.