Copyright Law

In my copyright blog I will be answering the following questions:
What are some new things you learned about copyright that you hadn’t known before?
Do you believe that copyright laws are fair as they are currently written? What specifically do you believe to be fair/unfair?
Tell me what you must do to make sure whatever you are using in your classroom will fall under Fair Use protection.
How will you enforce copyright within your own classroom with your students?

What I learned from this assignment is where to look for guidelines on copyright laws. I was surprised by how intricate and therefore confusing copyright laws are, so knowing where to find answers on fair use questions is extremely important to avoid copyright infringement. The copyright laws seem fair but at the same time they are very strict. It would be nice if some of the restrictions were reduced if the copyright protected piece is used for educational purposes and not for profit by someone other than the creator. To make sure I don't violate any copyright laws I will turn to online resources (sites like what you provided in class) that outline the rules. Knowing where to find the answers is as good as knowing the answers, so keeping a list or bookmarking internet sites that outline the regulations will be extremely advantageous to protecting me from infringement of laws. In my classroom, I will make sure that students have access to the same resource guidelines that I have and do my best to accurately interpret the rules to my students. I won't go so far as to report students to administration for violation of copyright laws except in extreme examples (stealing whole documents is one such example). It is my belief that most violations by my students will be out of misinterpretation of the rules, and not from the malicious intent to steal and profit from another persons work.