Week 8: Copyright in Schools

Copyright arises in everyday life; therefore this blog will look at the laws surrounding materials protected by copyright as well as issues that teachers face regarding copyright in schools as well as how this may impact my own future practice.

Copyright is defined by Ross and Kinsley (2007) as the legal protection granted to the creators of a work-piece over a fixed time period. It is important to understand that this copyright law occurs whether the work has been published or not. First introduced in 1709 as a development from common law known as the statue of Anne, this copyright outlines explicit guidelines to follow for the acceptable use of others work (Patterson, 1965).

The copyright law has been developed throughout the years and the current act was released in 1988 (Copyright, 2009). Copyright regulations apply to teachers, pupils and the school as a general organisation, however there a number of permitted acts and exceptions thus making information readily available to teachers and pupils (copyright NEN, 2012).  Since 1988 there has been a large increase in the amount of data available over the internet, although this is a different way to gather readily available materials it is important to understand that this material is still protected under copyright laws (Copyright NEN, 2012). Following this change, Davies (2012) discussed that in October 2003 there were important changes made to the 1988 act relating to the dissemination of copyright material obtained via the internet taking into account the rights of the authors. One of the key amendments made in 2003 was the guideline for teachers to create temporary copies of work found on the internet, this allows teachers to use materials obtained online to share with their class and school where appropriate (Davies, 2012).

To overcome any issues that teachers may face when obtaining information from the internet the ‘fair use’ policy was introduced to allow teachers to access media found online for use within the classroom (Davies, 2012). This policy allows for teachers to use material found online safely without breaking copyright agreements as long as they do not pass this work off as their own, the main reasoning behind these rules is so that children’s learning is not affected by a lacking accessibility to suitable resources to aid learning.

 Throughout education children are required to conduct research using textbooks and online sources, therefore, as well as teachers being aware of copyright they need to ensure that children understand regulations regarding materials protected by copyright in order to protect children from breaking copyright law.

• Copyright (2009) Copyright 2000-2009 UK Copyright Service. Copyright Witness Ltd. [online] available at: www.copyrightservice.co.uk/ukcs/docs/edupack.pdf (Last accessed 26.03.2014)

• Copyrights NEN (2012) Copyrights and wrongs. [online] available at: http://www.copyrightsandwrongs.nen.gov.uk/schools-a-copyright (Last accessed 26.03.2014)

• Davies, G. (2012) General Guidelines on copyright, in Davies, G. (ed.) Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers (ICT4LT), Slough: Thames Valley University [Online] accessed 9.03.14 at http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_copyright.htm.

• Patterson, L. R. (1965) The Statute of Anne: Copyright Misconstrued, Harvard Journal on Legislation, 3 (1). Harvard Law School: Harvard.

• Your Rights (online) Your Rights; The Liberty Guide to Human Rights. [Online] available at: http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/right-of-free-expression/copyright-and-allied-property-rights/meaning-of-copyright.html (Last accessed: 28.03.2014)