Unit Seven: Copyright and the Web

My eyes are still crossed from this unit's readings about copyrights and the web.  I was (still am) completely overwhelmed with the amount of information and the minutia of details about using copyrighted materials, copyrighting your own materials, Fair Use – the rules, the many exceptions….

As a student and a teacher before Web 2.0, I have primarily been concerned with not plagiarizing the work of another - insuring my sources are well documented and cited in written form.  I had not given much thought to copyright violations, or worrying about copyrighting my own materials.  As Rosenzweig and Cohen, 2005 note, 

you start worrying more about "what am I allowed to include of the work of others" and less about "how can I protect what's mine."

At this time I see my digital history focus to be "local and personal". I'm not looking to make money from this blog and (most likely) not from any other history related blog or web-presence I may develop. I foresee the resources I create and compile being used by my students for use in my class. As time goes on and I spend more time and effort creating new resources, I'm sure that will change.

Bucknell University Professsor Eric Faden's humorous take on copyright principles helped clear a few things up. I also searched beyond the assigned readings and found answers from Library at U Penn.  For now I'm aiming to understand the basics:

Copyright are the legal rights the author or creator of a work has over how that work is reproduced.  Generally speaking for works created after 1978 they until the end of the creator's life plus 70 years.  There are different restrictions and requirements for works created before 1978, anonymous works, etc.

Works in the Public Domain are free for anyone to use.

Fair Use is not a right but a legal, defensible position.  You can "borrow" a small amount of copyrighted material to, for example, teach a lesson, but it is dependent on:

• the nature of the work borrowed
• the amount of the originally work used
• it has to be used in a way that does not change the original works' value in the market place.

Teachers Pay Teachers is an "open marketplace where educators buy, sell and share original teaching resources."  This resource did not exist when I was last teaching, but I have purchased and downloaded a number of materials for use by my children. 

I had never looked into the ethics or legality of the site.  TpT repeatedly makes it clear that the information on the site is not a substitute for legal advice, but they do have a comprehensive Copyright FAQ.  It provides substantial information regarding appropriate use of materials found on the site and those created by teachers in their own classrooms.  After reading their FAQ, as well as their "About Us" section, I believe their intention is to be an ethical site, providing information regarding legal use of these educational materials.

Extra: I was working on an assignment for another class about using audio and video in the classroom and I thought about that frequently cited idea about how much we remember/learn boy listening, seeing, doing, teaching, etc.  I went looking on-line for the quote and came across the site: Will At Work Learning by Will Thalheimer, PhD.  Doctor Thalheimer holds a PhD, Human Learning and Cognition from Columbia University, a MBA, MIS and Instructional Design from Drexel University and a BA, Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. 

Dr. Thalheimer and his colleagues recently published a number of articles for the scientific journal, Educational Technology, about the misinformation given in what they’ve labeled (1) the mythical retention chart and (2) the corruption of Dale’s Cone of Experience. What caught my eye in Thalheimer’s post were two graphics and the following passage.  I thought it tied in to what we have been talking about this term including the importance of understanding where our sources come from and copyright (copying) concerns. 

I include these two examples to make two points. First, note how one person clearly stole from the other one. Second, note how sloppy these fabricators are. They include a Confucius quote that directly contradicts what the numbers say. On the left side of the visuals, Confucius is purported to say that hearing is better than seeing, while the numbers on the right of the visuals say that seeing is better than hearing. And, by the way, Confucius did not actually say what he is being alleged to have said! What seems clear from looking at these and other examples is that people don’t do their due diligence—their ends seems to justify their means—and they are damn sloppy, suggesting that they don’t think their audiences will examine their arguments closely. (Thalheimer, 2015)

http://www.willatworklearning.com/2015/01/mythical-retention-data-the-corrupted-cone.html