It is the responsibility of all educators to model good digital citizenship for their students. Especially when it comes to copyright, plagiarism and intellectual property. The waters are murky. Not being familiar with online digital rights and responsibilities (hey, teachers did not grow up with the Internet being around), educators are wading through uncharted waters (hey, I did not know that I could not just google an image to use. If someone puts it up online it is free for the taking). That does not mean they can close their eyes and pretend life is the same or that the same rules apply to online versus offline use of copyrighted material with their students.
It is every educator’s responsibility to become familiar , observe and model for their students! It is also every educator’s responsibility to not lump in all educational use of copyrighted material under the claim of Fair Use (hey, I am using it in school, I am not making money off of it…) . It is not that simple…
I have written about copyright on this blog many time. Some highlighted posts are:
- Bringing Copyright Awareness to the Surface
- How to Cite Images on Your Blog
- Citing an Image is Not Enough!
- So…You Want to Claim Fair Use?
- So… You Want (Have) To Create Something?
- No! You Can’t Just Take It!
The waters are murky, it is not an easy topic. While there are some clear cut rules about copyrighted material, Creative Commons and Public Domain content, Fair Use in Education are supported by GUIDELINES, not clear cut rules!
Together with the Academic Technology Team at Graded- The American School of São Paulo, the importance of developing a school policy in regards to copyright was discussed. It was not just about developing a policy, but also about:
- raising awareness of copyright issues in a digital world
- bringing relevance to classroom teacher at all levels and subject areas in understanding copyright in digital education spaces and seeing it not just as part of the domain of a ‘technology person”
- helping teachers shift from previous practices regarding copyrighted material in an analog world
- internalize ethical behavior regarding intellectual property available in an online environment
We did our due diligence in researching and gain a better understanding of how other educational organizations were dealing with copyright policy creation, teacher education and support.
Meryl Zeidenberg, the school’s library coordinator, and I started working on taking the gathered research to inform the development, articulation and design of an “If this… Then that…”type flowchart to better support teachers in making decision when using different types of media in teaching, blogging, presentations or projects.
We have ubiquitous digital access, ease of duplication and distribution of information. We encourage students and faculty alike to write, record, and film for global audiences, thus ushering in a new era of copyright consciousness.
The following infographic chart was developed with an introduction of a New Era of Copyright Consciousness and a suggested simplified flow to follow:
- create your own media (then you don’t have to worry about infringing on someone else’s copyright)
- search for public domain media (then you don’t have to worry about copyright, since it has been voluntarily released or has expired. No worries about giving proper attribution or citing the source either)
- search within the Creative Commons domain (make sure you double check requirements under the license: attribution?, non-derivative? non-commercial? etc.)
- determine if your use of the copyrighted material can fall under Fair Use?
[The flowchart is an attempt in creating a clear route to follow to something that is not as clear cut in nature. If you choose to use it, please do so in the spirit of such disclaimer.]
Thank you Silvia. These are terrific resources and reminders of how great sharing is, particularly when intellectual property is protected through best practice.
This is beautifully illustrated and helps explain a logical flow to using copyright. That you Silvia!
What a great resource! Thank you.
Thank you so much for this! Clear, concise and informative, this infographic is definitely going into my digital citizenship toolkit for staff and students!
this is a useful resource, but there are a few things that i think could make it even better. first, fair use is the law: it’s codified in section 107 of the federal copyright statute. while the only way to know 100% if a use is fair is if a judge says so, fair uses don’t end up in court all that often and educators should definitely take advantage of it! i think when you get to the fair use part of the chart, maybe just putting out the four factors would be helpful – there really isn’t a one-way direction for making a judgment. (For example, the recent case with HathiTrust where they used whole digital copies of books for their search engine was ruled fair even though they used the entire amount of many works!).
While I love this guide, I hope you’ll consider thinking about how to make some changes that help illustrate the full breadth of fair use and don’t limit educators. For anyone interested, there are some great experts hosting a free online coursera course starting next month specifically for educators! https://www.coursera.org/duke (I have taken courses with 2 of the three instructors that have been great!)
Hello. Very nice chart! On my computer, I can only see the top section. The other 75-80% is blank. Is it possible to get the entire chart posted or emailed to me? I would like to share this with my graphic design students. Thanks!
Is this available as a poster?
This copyright in the digital age post and info graphics are great resources for me and my fellow bloggers. I will be sharing it–with attribution, of course ; -)
Wow! This is such a wonderful resource for explain the use of copyright. I have never really fully understood the process of copyright and how it works and this is a great way to explain it. I can follow and understand it with a visual much easier than someone just trying to explain it verbally.
I have always had a hard time with understanding copyright and this has helped me out alot to understanding it. This is a great source to come to when I would have questions about copyrighting.
Hello I am a student in Edm 310 at the University of South Alabama. I am new to blogging. Your post was very informing for me. It gave me a great understanding of copyrighting. The chart is easy to read and to understand. It will also be useful to me in future references. Thank you for the informing post.
I strongly agree this chart gives good examples of copyright. I have learned using an image in blogging is not my own illustration, but it is right to give credit to the person owns the domain.
This is really a great chart that you have developed! It is the perfect tool for someone, like myself, who doesn’t completely understand how the different types of materials discussed can be used. I will definitely keep this chart in mind for use in the future.
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Great work Silvia! I believe this Infographic will help a wider community to be more involved in digital citizenship by clarifying copyright situations. We have seen so many many instances of inappropriate use of copyrighted material, so the hope is to make this a more day to day practice, so we can all model good practice. Awesome Infographic!
Silvia, this is definitely a topic that needs to be discussed more often in schools. I know I am in those “murky waters” you talked about as far as knowing if the media I use is copyrighted or not. Your flowchart was very helpful in clearing that up a bit for me. It amazes me how innovative you are when it comes to making topics clear for everyone. Thank you for the great post!
Ms. Tolisano, This is such a great topic. I have always worried whether or not I am writing a paper and giving credit to my sources in the correct format. I sure did not know where to begin when having to create blogs. I think it is a good idea for teachers to begin with this information. I will definitely use this as a source to make sure I am doing it correctly. Thank You, for your post.
I would like to be able to purchase this as a poster for my classroom – any possibilities?
Thank you. That was very informative.
Would it be okay if I made a couple of copies of this to put up in my school media center and computer lab? This infographic is very simple and easier to understand than other items of similarity. I would be will to purchase as well if that is an option somewhere.
Thank you!
I absolutely LOVE this chart and would really like to include it in my classroom website with your permission. I teach a course in Digital Literacy as well as Student Technology Innovation and Integration and this is the perfect guide for my students to refer to throughout the semester. Of course I would give you attribution! Thank you!
@Jenn,
Feel free to include it on your website. It is licensed under Creative Commons, Share alike, non-commercial, attribution. 🙂
This flowchart is amazing. Is there a high resolution version I could post as a reference for students in the library? Keep up the good work!
@Katie,
The hightest resolution of the image I have is here: http://langwitches.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Copyright-Flowchart.jpg
I have printed it out to hang up as well and the resolution works pretty well. 🙂
Hurrah! Thank you so much!
-Katie
Dear Silvia,
This is awesome! I really like your flowchart and the clarity it gives to an individual to take the correct steps. I for one am a huge advocate for creating our own images and feel that it is a really important skill to develop in this age of digital literacy. A few of my thoughts are in this blog post http://www.coetail.com/amitap/2014/11/14/images-lets-create-them/
I would also like to have your permission to print out the flow chart and display it in our labs.Thanks.
And thanks for always inspiring me!
Cheers,
Amita
@Amita,
You are more than welcome to print out the flowchart 🙂
Hi Sylvia,
I am in complete agreement with Amita who posted above me! But blimey!!!!! it’s a minefield…I could not believe how big the flow chart had to be! I am hoping to post it on my COETAIL blog, but will credit – as best as I know how. I hope that is ok….
@sharon,
Embedding the image file on your educational (non-commercial) blog is perfectly fine, since it is licensed under Creative Commons 🙂
Thank you. Great information!
Great infographic on copyright laws! The rules surrounding copyright can easily be blurred and many are actually unaware of how a copyright really works.
There is a huge problem on the internet about plagiarism this era. This flowchart is very informative and easy understand how far you can go when using content online. Thanks for sharing!
As a teacher and a leader you need to set a great example. It could kill your reputation if you are infringing on a copyright law or guideline. Thanks for sharing, it is always good to refresh.