Saturday, July 09, 2005

Copyright v. Teachers

In considering the many weighty legal issues with which teachers must contend, I'll admit I'm at something of a loss. I had never realized the many different ways that one could violate laws invovling intellectual properity. It seems to me, that I have never had a teacher who did not violate these rules in some way. I realize that not all these violation would necessarily result in the teacher's dismissal or a law suit for the school. Yet, I also wonder if the problem has gotten so large, especially with the Internet, that the various companies and publisher who produce material to suport teachers are actually in financial jeopardy. I certainly would want to be as informed as possible, not only for my own leagal protection, but because I feel teachers have a moral obligation to serve as model citizens for their students. I believe I should do everything possible to incorporate my students into the information age. I fear that in pursuing that goal and opening up as many resources to my students as possible I am bound to run afoul of some copywrite issue. The articles we read noted that only a trained expert could really contend with all the complexities of intellectual properity laws, and I worry what might happen if I don't have such aresource available. I also feel that I will never be as informed as I should be because I am more likely to focus on complying with those laws that are meant to protect the children. I will be mindful of laws like CIPA, because as much as I value protecting copywrite, I'm goint to focus more on protecting my students from possible threats. I guess the best you can do is to stay as informed as possible, do your job, and plead ignorance in the case of any violations

1 comment:

Liz Kolb, Ph.D. said...

Joel
Some great points! I think you are wise to focus on CIPA, because I know that this act is enforced in most schools (because federal funding will be taken from schools that do not comply). Copyright is tough and it is unfortunate that the laws are so unclear that even when educated, we are still confused.
-Liz