The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy

Present The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy I use media every day in my classroom. The third question is about how different people may understand the message differently. Media literacy educators rely on the use of copyrighted materials Teachers usually use articles from newspapers or magazines that students either read or they have read themselves. They use information from YouTube, the Internet, videos that either they enjoy or videos that students enjoy. I need to be able to use materials that I take off air because the videos in the library are just not current enough. My students feel that it is important to use popular music and music videos and create their art because it explains them, it explains the times. Now, they’re basically giving definition or another point of view. To them it’s their identity, it’s their friendships, it’s their social fears, it’s their connection to culture. If I can’t bring that in, then I can’t help them analyse their place in culture and imagine where they might wanna be in culture. Fair use lets educators use copyrighted material for learning Fair use: Legally quoting somebody else’s words, images and music without paying or asking permission as long as it benefits society more than it hurts the copyright holder. Copyright law is friendly of a good teaching that many teachers now realize. Fair use is like a muscle that needs to be exercise, but people can’t exercise it and acclaim adopt fear and uncertainty. Copyright confusion is widespread among educators When we interviewed more than sixty media literacy educators, we found that many were concern about their right. Teachers get conflicting messages from their colleagues and their supervisors about copyright. It seems like the entire word is copyrighted. If you are citizen, you need to be able to access this material to commune on them. While I respect the right of the copyright owner, the copyright holder, it seems like in the last figure that has really got out of control. Everything we want to use, every little piece, no matter how short seems like, it’s copyrighted and we can’t use it. Copyright confusion limits the quality of teaching and learning The law is not clear. And I recognize that because, when we hosted our own film festival, there were so many questions surrounding the guidelines that we posted in the entry form. Often time, we would like « Well what if we just use a little of Run DMC, just thirty seconds of it », people will recognize exactly what it is and it’s perfectly for what the kids want to convey in this particular scene : « Is it all right? » And I mean... I didn’t even know. Copyright confusion limits students’ creative expression Many students want to incorporate popular culture into their media production. They want to use popular music, they want to use advertising, they want to do commentary on film and television programs, and in most of the cases that we found that many media teachers prohibited students from using copyrighted material in their own creative production. I really discourage my students from using popular music in the pieces that they create in the classroom and in their own use productions because I’m fearful about what is going to happen when they try to use it, submit it to festivals, take it outside of the classroom. Copyright confusion creates distribution hurdles We found that teachers are afraid to share instruction on materials and lesson plans related to use of mass media and popular culture. At the same time, the kids really wanna be seen by as many people as they can. I’m just afraid that we might get in trouble. Educators can reclaim their fair use rights The collective judgment of every creator community informs the interpretation of fair use. Courts take notice of what creators regard is fair and reasonable. Documentary filmmakers got together and develop to consent what fair use means to them. They wrote the « Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use ». It’s changeful as possible for them. We can replace copyright confusion with a shared understanding of how copyright and fair use protects us as media literacy educators in building students, critical thinking and communication skills. The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy Feel free to copy and quote in entirety. For other quotations, employ fair use.