The Minefield of Copyright
By Paul McMahon on Nov 24, 2008 in Learning for a Flat World and tagged copyright, fair use, laws, legal, Lessig, senarios
I still feel very privilidged to have sat a few metres from the great Larry Lessig a few weeks ago as he spoke 
about the absurdity of the current copyright laws. I also recently came across a post by John Pearce about a session that he had attended at ACEC08 giving the Australian perspective on copyright. This session referenced a great resource in the Smart Copying Website which has a quick reference guide for copyright in schools as well as the most current up to date advice for Aussie schools.
One resource that is really handy and makes for great reading and reflection for teachers and students is the educational fair use senarios being put forward on Doug Johnson’s excellent Blue Skunk Blog.
These deal with very real situations that International School Teachers, and especially librarians, deal with on and all-too-regular-basis in schools. The senarios and the accompanying discussion on the senarios are right on the mark. Well Done Doug!
1 Comment(s)
Thank you, Paul. I recognize that educators in international schools have an even more difficult time with copyright laws since they vary by country and by philosophy. (I still remember going to Hong Kong in the mid-80s and visiting entire shopping malls full of pirated Apple IIe software, complete with photocopied manuals.)
Anyway, thanks for the kind words.
All the best,
Doug