Technology+Report

====Its definition is vague to most. People may have heard of it but they don’t have a clear meaning of what it is. With privilege comes responsibility. When one gets a new power tool, kitchen appliance or gadget, it comes with safety rules and operating instructions. Many tend to go for the operating instructions and ignore the safety rules. Likewise, with the emergence of new electronic gadgets, we must look at copyright as just as important as operating instructions. Therefore, when students have been given permission to use electronic gadgets that will give them access to the unknown world of cyberspace, they must also be taught copyright rules as well. Parents, teachers, libraries and others often allow access without instruction. Someone often suffers consequences because of the lackadaisical attitudes when it comes to copyright.====
 * Technology Report - Copyright**

**Copyright**
====Copyright is the exclusive right of the creator of a work to control who makes copies or who makes other works from the original work (Templeton, 2008). The work must be in tangible form. Tangible is something that is written or carved on something, recorded or performed. The minute you finish the work it is copyrighted. An idea cannot be copyrighted.==== ====Students should be taught that downloading copyrighted music without paying for it is stealing. Copying a software program without purchasing it and giving away or selling additional copies is stealing. Furthermore, copying information and pasting it into a report or document without permission from the author is also just plain stealing. Another word for copying information without giving credit to the author is plagiarism. If we don’t tell them, they won’t know (Kruger, R. 2003).====

**Fair Use**
====Another area that is beneficial to teachers, librarians and administrators is that of fair use. Fair use is probably the most important exception to copyright. Knowing and following the guidelines about fair use can save some of the trouble of having to get permission. Fair use includes use of images, music, and video in teacher or student multimedia work without permission so long as the Fair Use multimedia guidelines are followed. Fair Use does not include noninstructional use, such as for entertainment, dances or yearbooks, etc. (Regents of theUniversityofMinnesota, 2010).==== ====The Stanford University Libraries guidelines for Fair Use are discussed in a report where a group of educators, scholars and publishers have come to consensus on a Fair Use proposal that has not yet been adopted. (United StatesCode. 2010) Teachers can scan an analog photo as long as it is not available at a fair price and use searchable thumbnails or a display as long as they include a statement that says what can and cannot be done with the digitized (scanned) photos. Also, listed below are suggested guidelines for various other works.====
 * ====Text - Up to 10% or 1,000 words====
 * ====Music and lyrics – Up to 10% or 30 seconds====
 * ====Motion media – Up to 10% or 3 minutes====
 * ====Photograph or illustration – Up to 5 images by the same artist or photographer====
 * ====Published collective work of photos or illustrations – Up to 10% or 15 images====
 * ====Database field entry – up to 10% or 2,500 fields or cell entries====

====Only two copies can be made of the multimedia presentation and one placed on reserve. An additional copy may also be made for backup purposes only (Stanford University Libraries 2010). For much more detail visit the Stanford Library resource listed.====

**What Teachers Can Do**
====Teachers spend a lot of time with students and have many opportunities such as teachable moments of which they can take advantage. In an article discussing cyber ethics, I was reminded of simple things teachers can do to education students. One quote states, “When students see you working at your computer, take a moment to show them the software license.” (Kruger, R. 2003).==== ====This is so simple. Once you have a software program open, take a moment to pull down the help menu and show them the “About” screen. Point out things such as the name of the program, the manufacturer, the version and the copyright symbol. This type of information could easily be added as a quiz or test question no matter what subject is being taught. Include some cyber ethics terms in vocabulary or spelling lists. Finally, be certain to always cite your sources and point out your citations to students. Teaching by example helps teachers to incorporate tidbits of important information along the way without really having to interrupt their curriculum.====

Bibliography

Regents of theUniversityofMinnesota, (2010). Copyright information & resources. Retrieved from http://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/fairuse

StanfordUniversityLibraries. (2010). Copyright & fair use. Retrieved from http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html

Templeton, B. (2008, October). 10 big myths about copyright explained. Retrieved from http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

United StatesCode. (2010). Title 17 chapter 1 section 110. Retrieved (2011, September 15) from http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/110.html

Kruger, R. (2003). Discussing Cyber Ethics with Students is Critical. The Social Studies. 94(4), 188-189.