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More Commentary on Fair Use Issues

For Priority of Legal Issues:	We need to comply with copyright laws. Fair use is very reasonable. Use the gold rule -- Would I want someone to use my creation(s) this way? The law is the law. The District must take the moral high ground and follow the law. Con fair use: abide by the law. Live within the law. Use materials that are patented by law. Plagiarism is not right and should not be modeled. If it's against the law, how can this be supported? If the law needs to be changed then that has to be addressed. Ethics! How can you abuse copyright and then kick students out for plagiarizing. Education is not above the law. Why pay for software if copying "for education" is ok. [Loosening] of the copyright law will lead to downfall of our society. Just because it is difficult to enforce doesn't mean it's OK to ignore. Ignoring copyright puts MCCD at risk. It's not just a personal risk. As educators we are responsible for following the law. Get permission or acknowledge work... Just because it's online does not mean it's "up for grabs". The 6th commandment! [Possibly referring to "Thou shalt not steal" -- alternately numbered seven or eight in the traditional Ten Commandments.]
For Priority of Educational Issues:	Takes too much time to get copyright [permission]. Pro fair use: give them credit and make the money. Use best tools for our students. Recognize creator of materials. No profit motive. Permission a headache to obtain. Teacher forced to break the law if online. True dynamic of the Internet is exchange of information. With that in mind, educational institutions should be able to have copyright waiver... Give artist credit but not necessary to pay if material is not being used for profit. As a student I appreciate my teachers -- leaders -- going to whatever extent necessary to educate me. Take a stand, be a leader, pass on the knowledge. These copyright laws inhibit instructors and those that suffer the most are the students. Does money really control the world? Information wants to be free!
General Commentary:	If the author is concerned, may need to take steps to ensure none use. Author take responsibility to protect/block use. What is the District's effort and involvement in supporting exemption of copyright in higher education teaching environment instead of standing on the sidelines? I would have linked discussion of a broader range of legal issues than copyright: compliance [with educational] privacy laws. Political speech prohibitors. Obscenity. ADA. A lot of sites have a disclaimer that you may use the material as long as you state where you received it. Copyright info laws need to be re-evaluated. There are no "clear cut" rules for taking information off of a web site and making it your own. This is an ethical subject that will take many years to resolve. Too much debate. See Legal! As long as it is used for educational purposes with credit to the creator.
Links for learning more about this topic: A section of the MCCD Legal Services Department web site is already devoted to Intellectual Property issues -- such as copyright law and somewhat vague definitions of fair use -- at http://www.dist.maricopa.edu/legal/intel.html. A few specific answers to certain fair-use questions -- for example, whether it is legal to copy artwork -- are linked to the "Applying Copyright Law to a Specific Medium" menu at http://www.dist.maricopa.edu/legal/copyguides.html. Directions for obtaining copyright permission are also linked to this page. Condoleezza Rice, Stanford University Provost, provides an extended explanation of fair use at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/rice.html. Stanford also provides a menu of links on the fair use topic at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/. Additional information is provided by the United States Copyright Office at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/. Provide additional commentary Proceed to: Fair Use Issues: 1. What Do We Need To Learn? Return to: Introduction to Fair Use Issues Danger in the Construction Zone Contents WebDev 2000 Contents