Week 11 - Media Literacy : Fair Use, Copyright and Creative Commons

 

• Define the terms Fair Use and Copyright- "Fair Use" covers the idea of being able to use bits and pieces or someones work provided quotations are used, to give credit to the original author without having to worry about copyright. Copyright is a little more strict in its use and definition, an owner has the exclusive right to produce and distribute their creative work, whatever form it might be.
• Describe Creative Commons and OER (Open Educational Resources) "Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that helps overcome legal obstacles to the sharing of knowledge and creativity to address the world's pressing challenges." They provide public domain tools to give people and organizations a free and easy way to tackle the copyright process and work to create open licensing. Open Education Resources are learning and teaching materials that can be used for free without having to ask, the creator chooses to "retain few, if any, ownership rights".
• Why are these topics important for educators to understand? Explaining copyright and plagiarism to students is important, especially in an art classroom, and having access to OER saves a lot of steps in the lesson planning process and makes materials and ideas more accessible to a larger audience.
• How can I use these resources in my classroom as an artist and an educator? I feel like the art and music world constantly have copyright issues come up that appear in the news and on social media, which would make it easy to explain to students in a manner they can relate to. Jeff Koons is an artist I don't love for a lot of reasons, but he is a good example of Fair Use and Copyright in the art world.
• How can I teach these concepts to my students and why is it important for them to understand these concepts? (describe your lesson plan)

   

  Inspiration Vs. Fair Use & Copyright

   

  Curriculum Big Idea: Fair Use and Copyright

   

  Unit Key Concept: 

   

  Teacher: Jenna Hallmark

   

  Grade: 11

   

  Number of Students:   22                    Number of Periods: 2              Minutes per Period: 40

   

  Lesson Essential Question/s: What does it mean to be inspired? Why is it important to consider Copyright infringement and Fair Use when writing/creating/etc?

   

  Learning Objective: Students will identify common collective and individual beliefs about copyright law and fair use. Students will begin to differentiate between legitimate creative used and infringement of copyrighted material. Students will accurately define the permissions granted by copyright law.

   

  Activity/Learning Task: “Copy Quiz” game, an activity that wuickly relates the numerous situations where copyright law has an impact, (peer to peer file sharing, blogging, research, homework). For homework, the Copyright History Worksheet gives students questions to answer after completing the additional reading. The history-focused readings and questions build on the copyright concepts discussed in Lesson 1 and introduce the issues to be covered in Lesson 2: A Brief History of Copyright and Innovation.

   

   

  Assessment (Evaluation Criteria): “Copy Quiz” game, small group and class discussion, “Copyright History” worksheet.

   

  Art Resources: Discuss Jeff Koons and the idea of using other existing materials and artwork as “inspiration” for other work. Where is the line between inspiration and copyright infringement? 

   

  Instructional Technology/Equipment: Students will need access to computers during class.

   

  Art Materials & Tools: No art materials needed

   

  Distribution of Materials: None

   

  Vocabulary: Copyright, Fair Use, Public Domain, Inspiration, Appropriation

   

  Motivation: Ask students who their favorite artist or artwork is, and ask if they know who/what inspired this piece or artist

   

  Prerequisite Learning: Would be helpful if students had some art history knowledge, but not necessary. 

   

  1. Lesson Procedure: (20 minutes) Copy Quiz Game Show

  Place two chairs facing the students at the front of the class and ask the students to divide into two teams. Place a "true" sign on one chair and a "false" sign on the other chair. You will act as the game's host, asking questions from the Copy Quiz.

  Ask the two teams to form a line. Have the students at the front of each team's line answer a question by racing to sit in the correct chair. The student that first reaches the correct chair remains "in" and returns to the back of their team's line; the other student sits down and is counted "out." The game will naturally end as students are eliminated from the game or when you run out of questions from the Copy Quiz.

  2. (10 minutes) Start a discussion. Ask your students what they think when they hear these terms:
  • Copyright
  • Fair Use
  • Free Speech
  • Public Domain
  • File-sharing
  • Piracy
  • Plagiarism
  • Infringement
  3. (10 minutes) Using the three Teaching Copyright FAQs on copyright, fair use, and the public domain, as well as Cornell University's "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States" chart, walk your students through the legal definitions and terms of copyright law. Write the categories "Copyright," "Fair Use," and "Public Domain" on the board, and ask the students to brainstorm examples for each.

  Here are some examples for each category:

  Copyright

  • a textbook written by a professor
  • a book report written by a student

  Fair Use

  • using a magazine advertisement in a collage that criticizes advertising (parody and criticism)
  • recording a TV show so you can watch it later

  Public Domain

  • space photos taken by NASA
  • a photograph of Woodrow Wilson (c. 1912)
  • Shakespeare's plays
  • facts

  While taking suggestions from the class, be aware that the legal status of some uses is sometimes unclear. One thing that students may learn from this exercise is that copyright law results in some ambiguities that sometimes wind up decided in the courts.

  4. (10 minutes) Ask the class to come up with examples of ways that copyrighted works are used on the Internet. Prompt them to consider even the more mundane examples, such as newspaper columns, blog posts, and personal pictures on photo sharing sites.
  • What are your favorite websites?
  • What software do you use?
  • What are your favorite gadgets?

  (10 minutes) Ask the students to describe some of their technology use:

  5. Then ask them to write down some questions about copyright that they would like answered by the end of the unit. Collect the questions and save them for use in Lesson 

   

  Lesson Evaluation: Can students give an example of a copyright issue that they’ve read about in the news/seen on social media? Do they understand the importance of Fair Use and Copyright and have a general idea of the process behind both?