Copyright and Fair Use Laws

Why do we have to respect copy rights and fair use rules?  Why is that so important?  How will you teach your students about this?

Copyright and fair use laws protect the intellectual property of individuals, groups, and corporations.  In essence, copyright laws protect creativity and prevent the stealing of ideas and concepts without gaining permission and crediting the source.  Fair use laws provide for a little more access and use.  This is especially helpful for teachers.  Both of these types of laws help protect individual and promote integrity in research.  It is especially important for teachers to keep their students informed on this subject.  While we want our students to be inquisitive in their research, there is a certain way to accomplish that.  Students need to be taught this concept through good examples set by their teacher.  It is important that we strive to follow the same guidelines we expect our students to adhere to.  After all, it isn't a choice, it's the law. I found Copyright Bay extremely helpful, and I would definitely encourage my students to use it as a resource in order to get them actively involved in the subject.

What is online safety and is it different from cyberbullying?  How can we protect our students and ourselves from potential online predators?

Online safety and cyber bullying go hand in hand, but they are different entities. Online safety is important in order to protect individuals from online predators, inappropriate sites, identity theft, and other dangers that come with surfing the web.  Cyber bullying is one of these dangers.  Cyber bullying often comes from acquaintances and peers.  Awareness of this phenomenon is especially important with the growing field of social media.  Students should be able to come to an adult and alert them of any problems.

What do you think about this week activities?  Did you learn anything new?  

I definitely enjoyed this week's activities.  The topics were ones that I knew a little something about so that made it more interesting to learn even more in depth details.  The copyright quiz was a fun way to figure out what I did and didn't know about the topic.  I think that activity would make for a great pre/post test for a mini unit on copyright laws, especially before beginning a research paper or project.  


Fryer, Wesley. Copyright 101 for Educators. 2003. Retrieved September 27, 2010. http://www.wtvi.com/TEKS/02_03_articles/copyright.html

Carnell, John. Bullying UK. Retrieved September 27, 2010. http://www.bullying.co.uk/

CopyRight Quiz. Retrieved September 27, 2010. http://www.csus.edu/indiv/p/peachj/edte230/copyright/quiz.htm

Joilet, Francis. A Visit to Copyright Bay. 2002. Retrieved September 27, 2010. http://www.stfrancis.edu/cid/copyrightbay/index.htm

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. NetSmartz. 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2010. http://www.netsmartz.org/

U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright. 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2010. http://www.copyright.gov/