Copyright Law

 This weeks lesson on copyrights laws was very educational, I discovered that their was a lot of information about copyright laws that I was oblivious too. Copyright laws is a very complex subject; however, the different scenario on the copyright test gave me a better understanding. Familiarizing myself with Copyrights and Fair Use guidelines will help prevent unintentional copyright violation. According to research “Copyright laws” are based on the belief that anyone who creates an original, tangible work deserves to be compensated for that work, that compensation encourages more creative works, and that society as a whole benefits from the creative efforts of its members. Copyright laws, therefore, are designed to protect a creator's right to be compensated and to control how his or her work is used”(educationworld.com). Which includes written work, media, artwork, music and, photos. In today’s current age of the Internet, there is unlimited amount of information download that could be a potential copyright violation. For instance, students use an online site to import images, photos, and music without getting permission. Under some circumstances, importing this material without permission could be a violation.

 However, for educational purposes teachers can exercise the Fair Use Law. “The Fair Use Law” allows an educator the flexibility to copy material for the purpose of teaching according to strict guidelines. “As followed a single chapter from a book an excerpt from a work that combines language and illustrations, such as a children's book, not exceeding two pages or 10 percent of the work, whichever is less a poem of 250 words or less or up to 250 words of a longer poem an article, short story, or essay of 2,500 words or less, or excerpts of up to 1,000 words or 10 percent of a longer work, whichever is less; or a single chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper”(educationworld.com). As a future educator I think allowing teachers the rights to exercise the Fair use law is a good idea. Technology is changing rapidly and more and more individuals are sharing copyrighted material. Teachers shouldn’t have to be worried about if the video clip they showed in class is breaking a copyright law. David Thornburg mention how some teacher use cheat sites such as “turnitin.com” as a screening tool to prevent cheating. I think that educating students on copyright laws can inspire students to think creatively so they won‘t be quick to use someone else work as their own. However, I do agree with saying “when in doubt ask permission”(education world.com).

Also, this week our class was briefly introduce to Social book marking sites, Diigo and Scholar. “Diigo is a Social book marking website which allows signed users to bookmark and tag web-pages. More exclusively, it allows users to highlight any part of a webpage and attach sticky notes to specific highlights or to a whole page” (Diigo.com).
Scholar is also a Social book-marking site that is available through our Blackboard. Individual create an account with scholar that will allow them to search and browse resources, along with build and save their own collection( scholar .com). Although, I have very little experience with social book marking I can visualize how useful it could be when doing research papers.

                                                                  Works Cited

Diigo - Web Highlighter and Sticky Notes, Online Bookmarking and Annotation, Personal Learning Network. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. <http://www.diigo.com/>.

Scholar. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. <https://www.scholar.com/>.

Zip,, By. Education World® The Educator's Best Friend. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. <http://www.educationworld.com/>.