Copyright Part IV: Applying Best Practicesof Fair Use

Open Video Conference (19-20 Junio) - cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Rocío Lara

Objectives

• Recognize the Code of Best Practices, which offers a model for upholding fair use in education
• Apply the Code of Best Practices, strengthening reasoning skills. as well as increasing confidence when using copyrighted materials, while advancing critical thinking and communication skills
• Evaluate case studies, videos, and other tools to guide the process learning and applying fair use, based on the Code of Best Practices, in specific contexts

Rationale

All student deserve and need a well-founded understanding of copyright and fair use, as a matter of free speech, as well as its impact on our daily activity. People are continually gathering, sharing, creating, and using intellectual property and copyrighted material as part of our increasingly digital culture.

Additionally, all communities of practice benefit from codes of best practices, which establish the context and social norms for what is appropriate fair use of copyrighted materials. These best practices frame the concepts and techniques for interpreting fair use, as it relates to the rights of copyright owners and users. Additionally, a creative community's best practices help to advocate and strengthen their rights as users in a relevant way that is recognized by law.

Challenge

Your challenge is to differentiate the four factors and five principles of fair use, interpret the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, and synthesize their application in both hypothetical and practical contexts. Ultimately, you must be able to identify transformativeness and evaluate appropriate fair use claims regarding copyrighted materials.

Instructions

Please complete the following activities in preparation for class.

Required Viewing

Watch the video Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education from the Media Education Lab, now located at University of Rhode Island.


After watching the video, consider how the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education helps educators use their Fair Use rights.

Required Reading

Read Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, paying particular attention to the five principles and their explanation, as well as the myths about fair use.

Also read the six "Hypothetical Scenarios" and be ready to discuss the merits of each in class.

Required Writing

Draft an outline of the five principles from the Code, including a description, a justification or reason why it is included, and potential limitations to consider and the rationale provided for why educators can benefit from the Code. Make sure students can (2) explain why each of the five principles has a description, a justification and a set of limitations to consider.

Draft a couple of paragraphs in answer to the question: How and why does education benefit from using a code of best practices?

Legal

All copyright lessons are inspired by and adapted from the Copyright And Fair Use: Lesson Plans for High School, College and Graduate Education work of Media Education Lab Professor Renee Hobbs at the University of Rhode Island's Harrington School of Communication and Media.

Copyright Part III: Understanding& Applying Fair Use

 Copyright license choice - cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo shared by opensource.com

Objectives

• Illustrate that fair use requires reasoning and interpretation of context and situational factors
• Compare the reasoning, interpretation and divergent thinking required to make a fair use analysis to critical thinking and analysis skills through media literacy education
• Apply the the concepts of copyright and fair use to the practice of teaching and learning

Rationale

Understanding and applying fair use of copyrighted material requires interpretation. The fair use provision is deliberately flexible to anticipate and meet the needs of a constantly changing and unpredictable world. This means that there are no simple checklist or easily quantifiable way to identify what constitutes fair use of copyrighted material.

It is important to remember that reasonable people can disagree about fair use. In determining fair use there is no right answer. Again, it requires interpretation. As a result, courts have established a “reasonableness standard” limiting liability in certain educational contexts. Confidence in applying fair use requires practice in critical thought, use of reasoning, and analysis of the four factors, while reflecting on the rights of the copyright owner and the rights of the user.

Challenge

Your challenge is to gain a deeper understanding of copyright as a legal concept, as well as the provision of fair use, and transfortiveness, through reading, discussion, critical thinking, and writing. Gaining a deeper, more nuanced understanding will help you apply a reasoning process that considers the context and situation when exercising your right to fair use of copyrighted material.

Instructions

Please complete the following activities in preparation for class.

Required Viewing

Watch the video "Users' Rights, Section 107" from the Media Education Lab, now located at University of Rhode Island.



After watching the video, replay the song while following along with the lyrics (pdf) and note some examples of creative work that you believe relies on the concept of transformativeness.

Required Reading

Read "Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley FAQ" by Renee Hobbs, Katie Donnelly and Sandra Braman, which provides a summary of an important fair use case and its implications for education.

Recommended Reading

• "Remix as “Fair Use”: Grateful Dead Posters’ Re-publication Held to Be a Transformative, Fair Use" by Martine Courant Rife @ Conference of College Composition and Communication

Required Writing

Draft a narrative outline (three act structure) that explains the facts of the Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley case. include things like who is the protagonist and antagonist, setting, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution, and any moral or lesson.

Draft a an explanation in your own words how the publisher was able to publish and use images from the Bill Graham Archives, making them transformative, and therefore a fair use of copyrighted material. Be prepared to share them in class.

Legal

All copyright lessons are inspired by and adapted from the Copyright And Fair Use: Lesson Plans for High School, College and Graduate Education work of Media Education Lab Professor Renee Hobbs at the University of Rhode Island's Harrington School of Communication and Media.

Copyright Part II: Copyright Confusion& Its Consequences

fuzzy copyright -  cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by Nancy Sims

Objectives

• Investigate how lack of knowledge about copyright and fair use negatively affects teaching and learning
• Differentiate why many "educational use guidelines" do not have the force of law 
• Analyze how "educational use guidelines" interfere with genuine understanding of fair use

Rationale

Confusion and misinformation regarding copyright has multiple far-reaching consequences. Unnecessary copyright restrictions and lack of understanding about copyright law, often perpetuated by myth, fear, and attempts to concentrate control, continue to limit knowledge, innovation, and user's rights. Yet, copyright law allows for wide-ranging use of copyrighted material without permission or royalty payments. In fact, use of copyrighted material for educational purposes affords a broader range of fair use exemptions. Educators and students alike can take more control by gaining greater knowledge of copyright issues and making well-founded claims of fair use.

Challenge

Your challenge is to identify the instances and consequences of copyright confusion, differentiating fact from opinion, as well as explain how ignorance threatens the right of fair use.

Instructions

Please complete the following activities.

Required Viewing I

Watch the video "The Cost of Copyright Confusion" from the Media Education Lab, now located at University of Rhode Island.

Required Reading

Read "Educational Use Guidelines FAQ" by Renee Hobbs, Katie Donnelly and Sandra Braman, which provides a summary of the history and issues related to "educational use guidelines" and its impact on fair use.

Having read the FAQ document take a look at these two attempts at creating educational use guidelines. When viewing the following two examples consider and note the limitations that they impose, especially the specific ones that include numerical limitations.

Spend some time exploring Baruch College's Interactive Guide to Using Copyrighted Media in Your Courses. The site metaphorically uses a subway map as the user experience of determining whether or not to use a copyrighted material. Run through the interactive guide a few times trying different pathways to get a feel for their attempt to clarify educational use guidelines.

Read Hall Davidson's chart Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers. Davidson is the director of the Discovery Education Network, the Discovery Channel's educational outreach program. This page attempts to outline what is acceptable use based on media type.

Required Viewing II

Watch the short advocacy documentary Jacob Caggiano's  Eyes on the Fair Use of the Prize.




Think of two comments about either the documentary or topic of copyright in general.

• one fact-based comment on what you have learned about copyright and fair use
• one opinion-based reaction, including any feelings, personal experiences, and reflections. 

Discussion

Think of a list and some brief explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of the educational use guidelines that you viewed. Why have  educational use guidelines contributed to copyright confusion? Be prepared to share in class.

Also, consider some reasons why business leaders want specific, detailed rules, such as those presented in various educational use guidelines like the one's you viewed. Then consider why some educational leaders want such specific, detailed rules.

Legal

All copyright lessons are inspired by and adapted from the Copyright And Fair Use: Lesson Plans for High School, College and Graduate Education work of Media Education Lab Professor Renee Hobbs at the University of Rhode Island's Harrington School of Communication and Media.

Copyright Part I: Concept, Law, & Rights - Overview

Copyright Symbols - cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Mike Seyfang

Objectives

• Identify copyright law's design to promote creativity and growth of knowledge, considering rights of both owners and users
• Explain how fair use ensures that copyright law does not limit First Amendment rights
• Distinguish ways in which copyright law has expanded to protect owners over a period of time
• Describe how fair use enables flexibility to be relevant and useful to many creative communities 

Rationale

Understanding copyright, involves understanding the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment specifically protects a handful of freedoms related to religion, speech, petitions, assembly, and the press. Principally, these protections preserve the freedom of self-expression. The concept of copyright is built upon the First Amendment and the greater US Constitution, legal documents that establish rights and limitations.

The purpose of copyright is to promote creativity, as well as the use and advancement of knowledge. Copyright law is intended to balance the rights of users and owners of intellectual property. However, there are far too many misconceptions about copyright that threaten both the advancement of learning and knowledge and users rights of fair use and free speech, all vital elements for a healthy democracy.

In a world where digital technology makes it easier than ever to copy, share, use, modify, repurpose, and distribute, it is more vital than ever that individuals understand the implications of copyright, fair use, and free speech so they can both exercise their rights and avoid criminality.

Challenge

Your challenge is to gain a deeper understanding of copyright as a legal concept, as well as the provision of fair use, through reading, discussion, critical thinking, and writing. Gaining a deeper, more nuanced understanding will help you apply a reasoning process that considers the context and situation when exercising your right to fair use of copyrighted material.

Instructions

Please complete the following activities.

Required Viewing

Watch the video "What's Copyright?" from the Media Education Lab, now located at University of Rhode Island.



After watching the video, replay the song while following along with the lyrics (pdf) and note how your perceptions of copyright may have changed from your initial assumptions of the concept.

Required Reading

Read "Understanding Copyright" (pdf) by Renee Hobbs, Katie Donnelly and Sandra Braman, which provides an general introduction to concepts and relationships between copyright, fair use, and free speech.

Recommended Reading

• "The Purpose of Copyright" by Lydia Pallas Loren @ Open Spaces Quarterly
• "Copy This Essay: How Fair Use Doctrine Harms Free Speech and How Copying Serves It" by Rebecca Tushnet @ The Yale Law Journal 

Required Writing

Make two lists, one for everything you learned about copyright after the video and reading and another with all the questions you now have about copyright? Be prepared to share them in class.

Legal

All copyright lessons are inspired by and adapted from the Copyright And Fair Use: Lesson Plans for High School, College and Graduate Education work of Media Education Lab Professor Renee Hobbs at the University of Rhode Island's Harrington School of Communication and Media.

Challenge 6 - Current Thoughts

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by the rik pics

Objectives

• Interview a number of people about a question on specific topic
• Gather footage that highlights the context of the location(s)
• Edit the A Roll answers with your B Roll footage
• Experiment and explore video and audio storytelling tools

Challenge 

Your challenge is to create a two to three minute video, by asking a variety of people their opinion about something specific. Think of the kind of on-the-street reporter that asks random people the same question. Develop an interesting, open-ended question and ask a number of people to respond. Make it look as authentic as possible, picking good locations, and gathering contextual footage.

Rationale

This task requires you to develop an open-ended question and ask a variety of people their opinion on the topic. Identify good shooting locations and compose shots, both A Roll and B Roll. It also provides a foundation for documentary filmmaking. It requires shooting, editing, and capturing quality audio, as well as practicing the critical thinking and reasoning skills required for shooting interviews.

Considerations

• Does the location have adequate lighting?
• Does the location allow quality audio recording?
• How can you compose your A Roll shot?
• What kinds of B Roll footage can you capture (think audio as well as video)?

Instructions

Shoot interview answers to your selected question in close-up , no more than shoulders of the body should be visible beyond faces. Try to get your respondents talking and sharing their thoughts and opinions in some detail. You can edit later. Pay attention to the environment and look for potential B Roll footage. Also, consider recording some footage during your informal chatter, as you let them know the question and prepare to capture their answer. There is a natural limit to the amount of people you can include within a video limitation of two to three minutes (approximately 3-6 people should be enough, provided they give thoughtful answers). You are encouraged to begin and end the piece with your own comments.

Tools

Use your smart phone to capture the video footage. Be sure to get close-ups, especially because it will provide you with greater audio. There are a number of video editing apps which are free, and everyone with an iPhone likely has access to iOS iMovie with a recent purchase of the phone (Pinnacle Studio is also an excellent choice). Feel free to choose the one that best suits your needs. It might be worth exploring some of the options before making a decision, and don't feel compelled to buy anything.

Requirements

• Shoot all of your own video footage

Legal

This lesson has been adapted from the DS106 Assignment Bank, a component of the course begun at the University of Mary Washington by Jim Groom, Spring 2010.