Welcome Parents, Students and Faculty members. The National Megaphone is designed to inform
you about the latest areas of discussion within our school. My first blog is to inform everyone on Copyright,
Fair Use and Plagiarism laws. Since we
will be asking our students to produce papers using all types of media, it is
important that we all know about these laws.
Ask yourself this: Did I copy it? Did I use it? Did
I abuse it (using it more than once)?
Chances are you did. Understanding
the do’s and don’ts of Copyright, Fair Use and Plagiarism laws will keep you
safe and informed.
What
is the Copyright Law?
According to Wikipedia, “Copyright is a
legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original
work exclusive rights for its use and distribution.” In
short it provides legal protection for original works by the creator.
What
is the Fair Use Law?
The Fair Use Law allows the use of portions of
copyrighted works without the permission from the owner. It was created to allow copyrighted works for
several entities such as, classroom instruction, news reporting and research to
name a few.
Education
and Fair Use
The Fair Use law allows educators use of the
copyrighted materials such as:
A single chapter in a book, a poem of 250 words or
less, a chart, diagram and even pictures from a book. It also allows sheet music to be copied and
includes video tapes to be used for lessons.
To read full details go to Education World.
Students as well can use these examples, however we
must remember it is for educational purposes.
Now you may say to yourself, “I will just copy it from the internet”, the
internet is not public domain meaning internet information was created by
someone and in most cases is copyrighted. For more information click here copyrightkids
Students may also use Creative Commons. Creative Commons is a nonprofit
organization that has teamed up with entities such as Flickr and You Tube to
allow students and teachers to use their works freely.
What
is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is simply copying someone’s work. An example would be copying a sentence word
for word out a textbook on an essay. You
can, however, use someone else’s work if you quote it and reference it at the
end of your work. For more information
click Avoiding Plagiarism.
What
is Paraphrasing?
Paraphrasing is rephrasing or summarizing in your
own words what you read or heard.
Conclusion
It is my hope that this blog informed you and your
student on Copyright, Fair Use and Plagiarism issues. It is in the best interest of our students as
well as our parents and teachers to understand the dos and don’ts of these
laws. If you have any question or
concerns pick up that megaphone.
References
Copyright. (2016, September 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:26, September 19, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Copyright&oldid=739727167
Education World - Copyrights and Copying Wrongs, http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280a.shtml
Comparative Media Studies/ Writing, Avoiding Plagiarism, MIT
http://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/avoiding-plagiarism/
DISCLAIMER:
This blog is an assignment for an educational technology course at National
University.
