Text,
artworks, music, websites, films, TV program's and games etc are protected
under the Commonwealth copyright act and subsequent amendments. The law covers work in material form. For
example the idea for a film is not covered, however the screenplay for the film
is. Schools must comply with copyright
legislation or face heavy penalties.
A range of
exclusions exist for schools to use materials for educational purposes. Fair
dealing and reasonable portion are 2 important concerns for schools. Fair dealing includes use for research or
study purposes in the course of completing school work. Schools can copy 10% or
1 chapter of a book (whichever is greater) or the entire boom if it is no
longer available commercially. Otherwise permission needs to be obtained from
copyright owner.
It is
important to remember that different elements eg of websites eg text, images,
music etc may have different copyright owners.
Copyright
rules covering use of films in the classroom allow showing films for
educational purposes where doing so enhances the curriculum taught, however
screening on excursions, bus trips etc is not covered. Some schools can be
permitted to use films for the latter purposes but the school must check with
the copyright advisor if they are covered for this. Only legitimate copies of
films purchased by schools can be used and heavy penalties apply to screening
pirated copies including given by students.
Schools can
be covered by educational licences where royalties are collected by a central
agency on behalf of members. These licences govern use of text and artistic
works, broadcast audiovisual resources and music.
Students and
staff need to be aware of copyright when uploading to and downloading from
school LMS.
Assisting students with
disabilities
Schools
are allowed to copy materials without breaching copyright eg making large print
or sound copies for students with sight difficulties as long as no suitable
copy is commercially available within a reasonable timeframe
Copies created for this purpose must
be specifically marked and written communication must be sent to the copyright
agency within 3 months when a temporary or master copy is made to support
students with print reading disabilities.
Creative Commons
Creative
Commons resources can be used freely as long as correct attribution and use
rules are followed. CC symbols indicate
how the material can be used.
Attribution
details should include name of the creator of the work, name of the item,
details of the CC licence provided under eg "Creative Commons Attribution
2.5 Australia", and website URL of the original item and where it was
found. This information must be included where is reasonably expected ie may be
at the end of a film or under a photo.
Smartcopying
Creative Commons: A Quick Overview factsheet gives suggested attribution examples.
Source:
Creative Commons: A Quick Overview factsheet, Smartcopying website
Schools
should also be familiar with the National Educational Access Licence for
Schools (NEALS) logo which is an agreement between commonwealth, state,
catholic and independent school sectors permitting schools to freely copy and
communicate print and digital material published on their websites and
publications for educational purposes. NEALS also covers non-commercial
curriculum materials and policy documents but does not extend to films or sound
recordings.
Source:
National Educational Access Licence for Schools factsheet, Smartcopying website,
available at http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go/pid/748
Teachers and students should also be able to use CC licensing to protect their own produced work.
Sites
such as Flikr provide some free to use resources, and CC search, available
at http://search.creativecommons.org/
links users to range of CC resources.
Creative
Commons also assist students and teachers to learn about how they can legally
use material without infringing copyright.
The
presentation by J. Coates (2013) Creative Commons in the Classroom available at
http://www.slideshare.net/Jessicacoates/creative-commons-in-the-classroom-2013
is a useful resource to assist teaching. Teachers and students should also be
able to use CC licensing to protect resources they have produced.
Contracts, classification and
filtering
Even
where the Copyright Act may permit certain actions eg downloading a copy, users
need to check that such actions don't breach rules of the site eg YouTube does
not allow downloading.
Staff
also need to check online contracts eg for minimum age of use eg social media
sites may have 13 minimum age
Individually
purchased material is usually not considered the same as that purchased by the
school, and classroom use of such digital content should be discouraged.
Film and Literature
classification
AV
resources including films, TV and games are covered by classifications set by
the Commonwealth Office of Film and Literature Classification. Teachers need to use professional judgement
to ensure content and classification is appropriate for the age group and that
the material supports the curriculum.
Teachers should also ensure that the content dose not present cultural
or religious issues when previewing the material prior to showing in the
classroom.
Internet Filtering
ALIA
supports unregulated access to online content thus is not supportive of
filtering as it is not considered effective in protecting students from illegal
activity or inappropriate content and hampers use of certain useful sites.
Instead of filtering, cybersafety education is promoted and links to useful
sites such as cyber smart available at http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Libraries/Cybersmart%20library%20resources.aspx
is provided.
Research
by AASL (October 2012, available at http://www.ala.org/aasl/researchandstatistics/slcsurvey/filtering-schools)
in US schools suggests that filtering may impede genuine research and thus
learning.
Sources:
Smartcopying
factsheets available www.smartcopying.edu.au
Cybersmart
website available www.cybersmart.gov.au