Copyrights/Fair Use

Before today I felt I already knew more about copyright and fair use policies than most of my peers, thanks largely to my hobbies.  But I also knew I still had a lot to learn, so it was no surprise the information provided taught me quite a bit.  For example, The Educators’ Lean and Mean No FAT Guide to Fair Use had several good ideas that hadn’t occurred to me, such as the three common sense rules of thumb.  Using copyrighted material would generally be okay as long as it is contained in an educational location (classrooms can be online or physical), you are using a legitimate copy of the material, and the material is not available for sale for educational purposes.  I feel more confident about using educational material with those rules in mind. 

                Also I found the “cheat sheet” really helpful, because the line between legal and illegal definitely blurs when technology is involved.  This was also stated in the information provided, but even before I read it I felt that technology is several steps ahead of the law.  Sometimes even law-makers don’t know whether something is in violation of copyright, and this makes borrowing copyrighted material even more hazardous in today’s industries.  Even if you believe you’re following the law, you have to remember that the laws you’re trying to follow may not exist yet for that technology, which means it’s open to the interpretation of the copyright holder.  Of course you can always challenge a claim made against you if you believe you’re within the bounds of the law, but if those laws don’t exist yet it could take quite a while for it to be resolved.  Remember, technology is a very complicated and fast moving thing, and the law struggles on a daily basis to keep up with it.