Copyright is Important

---

        Many of us think of copyright laws in terms of inconvenience.
       

         It is such a hassle to get permission to copy a work, and it gets expensive to purchase the materials I want - especially for educational purposes - so why don't I just copy (either on a machine or on a website) the work and hope no one notices?           

        There are several things wrong with that thinking, but let's focus on the two main purposes of copyright law:  

1. Copyright law exists to protect the creator of content from harm. "But what harm is there in making copies? It's not like I stole something!" But you did steal something. You are using something that belongs to someone else without permission. If that person is relying on income from the sale of that property, then you have stolen the value of the property on the market. For example, if a book costs $10.00, and you make 20 copies for your class, you have just stolen $200.00 in sales from the owner of the book's copyright. Copyright law exists to protect the creator of the content from that kind of harm.
2. Copyright law exists to benefit the public. By protecting the creator of content, the law provides an incentive to create, and the increased factual and creative content benefits the public. Obviously, not getting paid for created content will not stop people from creating, but it will stifle creation and creativity in various ways. If I am able to make a living from content creation, then I can spend more time producing content, and that will benefit both me and the people who use my product. If I have to make a living doing something else, that restricts — sometimes severely — the time I am able to devote to producing content. We all lose because creativity and creation are stifled. This I know from personal experience. I have produced materials that I am making available to others, some of it for free and some of it for sale, but because I make my living teaching in a public high school, I have a more limited amount of time in which to create content and manage its production, sale, and distribution. Right now there are at least three books that I want to finish, but I am able to spend only a little bit of time on them each week. Copyright gives me the incentive to keep working on them because some day I will be able to market them and decrease my reliance on a different means of making a living.

       Here's a third consideration. Copyright Infringement is unethical and illegal. Copyright means the right to copy in whatever form and by whatever means you choose. Only the creator of the work has that right, and they can assign that right to whomever they choose. The law prohibits unauthorized people from copying a protected work because they do not have the right. In addition, copying or pirating a work without permission is theft. It's unethical.

        Some teachers (and others) go beyond copying and distributing materials. They present at conferences and workshop as if the material were their own. Friends of mine complain about going to a conference and watching another teacher present my friends' material as the presenter had created it.

        If you are guilty of stealing someone else's property (e.g. making copies of a book or other material without permission) or presenting another person's work as your own, you have lost all moral authority to complain when your students plagiarize or steal. You do the same thing. Punishing students for doing what you do is hypocritical and makes you a bully.

        What can a teacher do?

        Find materials that are licensed or copyright free and use them. Many people offer materials under a licensing agreement, free for use, or in the public domain. Do not assume, however, that anything you see on the internet is free to use. The work may be pirated, or you missed the copyright.

        How do I know if something is free to use?

        Look for a notice or use websites that advertise copyright-free materials. There are several categories of materials that are usable without concern for copyright infringement.

1. Public Domain. Public Domain means that the material is available to anyone without restriction. In 2020, any work produced prior to 1924 is in the Public Domain according to United States copyright laws. With each succeeding year, the date for entering the Public Domain increases by one year, so in 2021, the year will be 1925. Any work created by the United States government or one of its agencies is in the Public Domain. Authors often release their work into the Public Domain.
2. Licensing. The two primary licensing formats are Creative Commons and GNU, with Creative Commons being most popular for works on the internet. You might also enter into a private licensing agreement. I once wanted to use an essay that was under copyright. When I wrote to the publisher and asked permission to provide copies of the essay to students, they replied with an offer to license a certain number of copies for a specified price. I paid the price and made the copies. That is the ethical and moral response.
3. Permission. Ask, as I did in the previous example, for permission to copy. In preparing a project I was creating for my German course, I found several images that I want to use. I contacted the creator and copyright holder. He replied thanking me for the courtesy of asking permission. Rather than giving me permission to use the specific images I requested, he gave me permission to use up to 10 images of my choosing at no cost. That proved more than adequate for my needs. I gave him credit in the work.
4. Release. Many authors and copyright holders release their works for use by anyone for whatever purpose. This lies between licensing, which often has certain restrictions, and Public Domain because the copyright holder retains the copyright but allows free use of the work.
5. Fair Use. The concept of 'Fair Use' allows teachers and others to use portions of works under certain conditions. Those conditions are not strictly defined and vary from case to case. Infringement is often determined by court cases. For example, the Tolkien Estate sued TSR (makers of Dungeons and Dragons®) over the use of the word 'hobbit' and other terms. The court determined that 'hobbit' was copyrighted but orc, elf, dwarf, and other terms were in the Public Domain. That's why role playing games have 'halflings' (a generic term) rather than 'hobbits.' It's also why talking trees are Treants rather than Ents.

Creative Commons and GNU

• Creative Commons - Many content creators are willing, even eager, to share content for free, but they don't want to lose their copyright in doing so. Creative Commons is an organization that helps with that by licensing content under various conditions. The website walks you through the process for determining which license is appropriate. For example, you can set terms such as
  • BY - Attribution: people are free to use your work but must attribute it to you as the author;
  • SA - Share Alike: people who distribute your work or create a new product based on your work must share it in the same way you shared with them;
  • ND - No Derivatives: people are not permitted to alter or create a new product based on your work, except as allowed by existing copyright law (e.g. parody);
  • NC - Non-Commercial: people are not permitted to make money from your work but may freely copy and distribute it for non-commercial purposes, such as education (e.g. in a classroom setting).
• GNU General Public License - GNU is a license designed primarily for software but applicable to other intellectual property. Their website explains the licensing and how to use it.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and nothing on this page should be construed as legal advice. The contents of the page are for informational purposes only. All legal questions should be referred to a qualified attorney.