The article “Are You Breaking the Law?” describes basic copyright laws, particularly for the use of streaming video and digital video, and how they affect schools.  The authors explain that it is important for educators to understand copyright laws because of the legal issues that can arise.  School districts have been held accountable for employees not adhering to copyright laws. 

 

The first thing that Chiles, Riddle and Rich recommend is that teachers, technology facilitators, media specialists, and administrators read the vendor license agreements.  They explain that those agreements are binding contracts and that they often supersede existing copyright laws.   It is explained that vendors do take into consideration the needs of educators in terms of how they will use their products, and write the licensing agreement to help meet those needs as best as they can.   An example given states that “end users maintain the intent of the video, and therefore do not use editing software with it,” but they go on to add that “the agreement may go on to say that end users may freeze frame the video  to use it in an instructional situation.  It may also be acceptable in some cases to include the frame on the Internet if the Web site is protected by a firewall or password (Chiles et al. 2003).”

 

The article goes on to briefly describe laws enacted to protect copyrighted material.  A few mentioned were the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act); and the US Copyright Law, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107.  They explain that streaming video is similar to using DVD’s in that they can only be used for educational purposes in a classroom, media center or auditorium.  It is also stated that copyrighted videos can not be used in public performances and that the video can not be altered in any way (Childs et al. 2003).  The authors also include information regarding software that is available and some that are being developed to help the creators of videos and the providers of the streaming video to protect their work.

 

In conclusion the article states that teachers need to be familiar with current copyright laws in order to protect themselves and their school district.  They should also share their knowledge of copyright law with their colleagues by creating a list of do’s and don’ts, creating a quiz, or incorporate them into current policies so that all on staff are aware of the actions that are in violation of the law.

 

I felt that this article fit well with Standard VI because it briefly explains copyright law and how it fit with the relatively new technology of streaming video.  In the article they explain that teachers need to share information regarding copyright laws, and that is exactly what is expected of Technology Facilitators as stated in section A of standard VI.    I

 

Although I have become more familiar with copyright laws because of the courses in Educational Technology, there is still much more to learn.  This article summarized a few copyright laws making them easier to understand.  The examples and explanations that they provided were clear and easy to understand.  Having an understanding of these laws is imperative so that we don’t endanger ourselves or our school district with a copyright law violation.

 

Chiles, L., Riddle N., & Rich L. (2003) Are You Breaking the Law? T H E Journal, 31, 3.