Teachers must be aware of which resources we are allowed and not allowed to use in the classroom. Under Copyright Law for the United States, the Fair Use Policy allows some freedom in use of copyrighted material. Fair Use allows reproduction of original works, for purposes such as teaching, if certain guidelines are followed. To qualify for this exemption, one must be in a classroom devoted to instruction, there must be face to face interaction, and this must take place at a non-profit organization. (University of Minnesota, 2010).
It must be noted that the entire original work cannot be copied and distributed because it is causing a loss of money for the company of copyright. Also, if the work you are trying to use is original, there is a copyright. Therefore, if you use even part of that work, the original author must be given credit (Shaw, 2011).
Colorado State University explains that there are specific copyright rules for materials used in the classroom. Logically, the material used in class must be legally obtained, and the purpose of using the material must be strictly educational. Again, teaching with the material must take place in a location only for educational purposes, and the teaching and learning must occur simultaneously; it cannot be recorded for later viewing by students. The most interesting fact about copyright in the classroom is about audio and music use. Audio recordings or music are allowed to be played if it has specific educational purposes. Therefore background music off the internet or a CD that is not paid for is technically illegal (Colorado State University, 2014).
Regarding other materials in the classroom, coloring books can be considered. When coloring pages are used in the classroom, this is not a copyright violation. The copyright of the coloring books do not specifically grant permission to use them, but the alteration of coloring pages is implied through the purpose. Buying the coloring book implies a limited right to reproduce the images, but if many copies are made of a copyrighted book, again the company is losing money, and that is therefore illegal (Stim, 2011).
Copyrighted images such as cartoon characters or Disney characters cannot be used on bulletin boards, decorations, hand-outs, or worksheets even though it may hold student’s attention. These images have copyrights and it is against the law to copy and paste these characters onto activities or printed for the walls. To avoid legal trouble, these kinds of images can be purchased for low cost on websites such as Lakeshore.com, but cannot then be copied for other teachers’ use (Hoffman, 2013).
As a future teacher, I was not aware of how many rules and regulations accompanied the use of copyrighted materials in the classroom, but I am grateful for the Fair Use policy. It is not clear to me that serious legal consequences can result from using copyrighted material illegally. I was surprised to learn about the use of cartoon characters and Disney images because I see is so often in the classrooms today, as teachers use them in math activities and as rewards for behavior. Also, I was disappointed to learn of the rule regarding background music because I believe quite music during work time supports attention and focused learning. I suppose that in my classroom, the music I play will have to be from my own bought collection, rather than from online.
I now understand that it can be easy to violate the copyright law of you are not informed, but it is useful that there are many diverse resources available to teachers that allows them to gain legal, and cheap access to copyrighted material. In my classroom, I will be careful not to copy whole texts, and to only use copied material for educational purposes. I must be aware of the texts I choose to send home and of the coloring pages the children use so that I avoid breaking the law and stealing from the copyrighting companies.
It must be noted that the entire original work cannot be copied and distributed because it is causing a loss of money for the company of copyright. Also, if the work you are trying to use is original, there is a copyright. Therefore, if you use even part of that work, the original author must be given credit (Shaw, 2011).
Colorado State University explains that there are specific copyright rules for materials used in the classroom. Logically, the material used in class must be legally obtained, and the purpose of using the material must be strictly educational. Again, teaching with the material must take place in a location only for educational purposes, and the teaching and learning must occur simultaneously; it cannot be recorded for later viewing by students. The most interesting fact about copyright in the classroom is about audio and music use. Audio recordings or music are allowed to be played if it has specific educational purposes. Therefore background music off the internet or a CD that is not paid for is technically illegal (Colorado State University, 2014).
Regarding other materials in the classroom, coloring books can be considered. When coloring pages are used in the classroom, this is not a copyright violation. The copyright of the coloring books do not specifically grant permission to use them, but the alteration of coloring pages is implied through the purpose. Buying the coloring book implies a limited right to reproduce the images, but if many copies are made of a copyrighted book, again the company is losing money, and that is therefore illegal (Stim, 2011).
Copyrighted images such as cartoon characters or Disney characters cannot be used on bulletin boards, decorations, hand-outs, or worksheets even though it may hold student’s attention. These images have copyrights and it is against the law to copy and paste these characters onto activities or printed for the walls. To avoid legal trouble, these kinds of images can be purchased for low cost on websites such as Lakeshore.com, but cannot then be copied for other teachers’ use (Hoffman, 2013).
As a future teacher, I was not aware of how many rules and regulations accompanied the use of copyrighted materials in the classroom, but I am grateful for the Fair Use policy. It is not clear to me that serious legal consequences can result from using copyrighted material illegally. I was surprised to learn about the use of cartoon characters and Disney images because I see is so often in the classrooms today, as teachers use them in math activities and as rewards for behavior. Also, I was disappointed to learn of the rule regarding background music because I believe quite music during work time supports attention and focused learning. I suppose that in my classroom, the music I play will have to be from my own bought collection, rather than from online.
I now understand that it can be easy to violate the copyright law of you are not informed, but it is useful that there are many diverse resources available to teachers that allows them to gain legal, and cheap access to copyrighted material. In my classroom, I will be careful not to copy whole texts, and to only use copied material for educational purposes. I must be aware of the texts I choose to send home and of the coloring pages the children use so that I avoid breaking the law and stealing from the copyrighting companies.