The muddiest point for me is the issue of copyrights and distance
education. Because of the explosion of technology, the waters of copyright
issues have become very muddy. In the past, if I purchased a book I was allowed
to loan it to any friend I desired. If they forgot to return it, that was OK,
too. Today, if I purchase any e-book for my Kindle, only some of them can be
loaned to my husband’s Kindle. Most of them will be deleted from his device
after a certain period of time. These copyright protections are done
automatically, but this does not always happen in the field of distance
education. It would be very convenient if textbooks could be accessed online, even for students in a traditional classroom so their book bags wouldn't be so heavy. However, this is highly unlikely at this time because of copyright limitations. It is very easy to violate copyrights because the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH) seems to put the greater burden on the users to interpret the law. In spite of the
many words used in the language of the Act, most of them are negative – what can’t
be done (Seadle, 2003). Does this mean
that whatever is not listed can be done? Unfortunately, the true understanding
of the amendment to our copyright laws will only come when violations are discovered
and the courts interpret the TEACH Act for us in their rulings (Nelson, 2009).
References:
Nelson, E. (2009). Copyright and distance education:
The impact of the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act. AACE
Journal, 83 - 101.
Seadle, M. (2003). Copyright in a networked world:
Digital distance education. Library Hi Tech, 253 - 256.
Hello Alma!
ReplyDeleteYou brought up some interesting points. I do agree that TEACH does seem to put some of the interpretation into the hands of the users. I guess that is why often times I just try to create my own thing (yes, reinvent the wheel) rather than try to figure out if I am following copyright all the way and correctly or not. For example, that it one reason I made a picture for our wiki rather than use one from the web and state the source. It was easier for me just to snap a photo myself. :)
Pam
I agree with you, Pam. I am not a great photographer, but I prefer to use my own (or my husband's) pictures for online applications because I'm never sure whether I would be violating a copyright otherwise.
DeleteHI Alma,
ReplyDeleteI really like the TEACH law so your post interested me :) I find it a bit freeing for educators - especially distance educators. Speaking of the Kindle - how do you feel we should regulate the downloading of apps/ebooks on to multiple devices? this is a common practice that is getting out of hand. What are your thoughts?
Cheers,
Jennifer
Hi Dr. Courduff,
ReplyDeleteI tend to prefer not to have actual legislation enacted to prevent certain practices. New laws and regulations simply require more manpower to enforce them. I know that I can borrow e-books from my local library, and they are removed from my Kindle when my loan time is up. It seems that the app developers/ e-book publishers can embed protection against multiple downloading. Of course there will always be some who will bypass the protection, some to show they can, and some for profit. However, these would be obvious copyright violations and could be prosecuted as such, if they are discovered.
Good answer. I like your pragmatic approach :)
DeleteAlma--I waited to do my last response until Sunday night. I wanted to respond to a fellow high school teacher. I knew you would have a wonderful blog. You have brought up several excellent points. The copyright laws are difficult for the teachers to sort through; I have noticed students won't even tryto understand and usually give me a blank stare as if I am speaking a foreign language. As a department we are trying to instruct students about the copyright protections. We are afraid they will get in trouble at the college level, thus we feel a responsibility to explain the copyright laws of distance learning and the devices they have adopted as daily tools. I agree there may be a delay of true understanding. As Nelson mentioned, the interpretation will most likely be vague until someone is finally prosecuted. In the early days of copyright problems, I remember music teachers would regularly make copies of a music selection (usually because of pressure to save money), number each measure, and hand it to the judge. It took at least twenty years for that particular trend to fade. Now even students recognize a stunt of that magnitude is an automatic disqualification of the performance and the school. Hopefully, the laws now (with the use of technology) will become standard faster. I enjoyed your post. I knew I would.
ReplyDeleteAlma, I truly believe in the near future, our Federal Government, State Governments, and Institutions need to come to some common ground when copyrights is a applied to online education. There is numerous laws that one must remember but we are required to remember them as a user. I believe there need to be a section in distance and online education that go over the laws for technology purposes.
ReplyDeleteOtis
Thank you for your post. I do agree that at the distance education level, as well as in a traditional classroom setting, copyright can very muddy and unclear. I say this because often times in my kindergarten classroom I will look online for a worksheet for my students that correlate to a subject that we are teaching. This can pose an issue with copyright because I just pull a sheet from a webpage and adjust it some to fit the needs of my students. However I am not the creator of the document so it may pose an issue to do such a thing. This is not only true for myself, but for numerous educators that use the internet as their resource to obtain additional materials for their classes.
ReplyDeleteAlma,
ReplyDeleteI think copyright laws were the muddiest point for me as well. The laws are so complex and different for different situations it is hard to keep up. Also some books can be shared by email as well. The number of books students have to carry is ridiculous. Plus the books are so big and heavy which makes it even worse. I personally feel like I do not have enough training or information about copyright laws and I am eager to learn more about them.