Is it okay to show an movie that you own to a class and say that it ties into a lesson? What about including music in your podcast? How about copying materials from a teacher friend from another school? Would you copy a picture downloaded from the internet and put it in a powerpoint presentation? I'm sure most of the time, people would think it is okay as long as it is not for monetary gain and it is educational. How many people at school actually knows that it might be an infringement on copyright laws?
The librarian will play a role in educating everyone at school about copyright laws. It is unfortunate that although people are aware of the laws, they violate them. Not because they do not care, but simple because they really do not have full understanding of what the law exactly means. They are not clear about what is considered "fair use." Lastly, they do not know what they can and can not do under the law
Movies cannot be shown unless the person showing them owned the performance rights, it's as a reward/incentive, or shown on a Friday/bad weather day.
If a material expressly says "Copying is not allowed" then we cannot make copies even if our intentions are good. We will still be liable if we do not get necessary rights or permissions.
Teachers need to familiarize themselves with "fair use". Under fair use if the material is for nonprofit educational use then it is okay to use them. Facts cannot be copyrighted but he creative means by which they are presented may be. So teachers need to exercise good judgment when downloading creative materials like pictures and literature. The less of the material that is used, the better.
Here are sites that contain helpful information regarding copyright for educators:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Introductionhttp://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
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