MAC Week One

Week One Reading: Copyright Issues

Copyright laws seem to have many grey areas.  I am always uncertain and try to err on the safe side.  My school district was in a copyright dispute with a publishing company a few months ago.  The following link from the Toledo Blade newspaper explains what is going on:

http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2012/01/13/Publishing-Co-sues-TPS-over-copyright.html

The claim states “Align, Assess, Achieve entered into a copyright license agreement with TPS for company books and materials that provide teacher guidance in meeting the Common Core education standards… TPS could only use the works to prepare pacing guides for the teachers for whom the district had bought the company's book.  Despite the agreement, according to the complaint, TPS in August had teachers transcribe the copyrighted work in its entirety. The district later posted the copies on its intranet, making it available to all teachers, the company claims. TPS falsely attributed authorship of the unauthorized electronic versions of the AAA copyrighted works to the teachers the district employed as scriveners to steal AAA's intellectual property."

The attorney for my district is quoted as saying, "We don't believe there's any validity to the claim.” 

Teachers were not given any further information as to how the dispute was settled.  However, the pacing guides were removed from the employee intranet for a few months before being put back up, so we assume the claim has been dismissed. 

In searching for more information on how printed material can be used by a classroom teacher, I found the following source helpful:  “Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians” This article can be found at the following link:

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf

This is a wordle incorporating text from the article:

I found the Good Copy / Bad Copy video to be very fascinating.  I think the Nigerian filmmaker summed up how copyright laws are to be followed succinctly:

“If you don’t have permission, you can’t use it.”

I learned that it is all about getting permission, not about money at all.  I often wonder about showing movies at school. I have seen schools who host family movie nights.  They rent a DVD, and project it in the gym for families to watch together.  I am hesitant to participate; are they breaking copyright laws by showing the video in a large gathering like that, with over 100 people viewing?  Most teachers reply it is OK because they are not charging for it.  I question if they have permission.

Another quote I pondered from Good Copy / Bad Copy was “We don’t want to look at this from the negative angle…copyright is not about stopping people from using your work, but getting them to use your work legally and giving you money for what they have done with your work.”

I think that makes so much sense.  I am not opposed to sharing lessons I have created with others, in fact I believe collaboration is the most crucial tool for teachers today.  However, I do want to be recognized for the work I have done in creating these lessons.  A site like TeachersPayTeachers.com allows for teachers to share lessons, be recognized as the creator, and make money for the intellectual work provided.

Week One:  Comment to David's post

David Mouri’s EDM Week1 Blog

The copyright laws have been an issue that I must say I don’t always understand. The EMDT program has made this issue a lot clearer in my mind. The first section of this weeks “reading/Videos” made it clear of what the basic concepts of the present copyright laws are. I always knew that if it was a fixed work, such as a book, play, or music then you could not use it with out permission. Now having said that, did I always live by that rule. Some of you know that I am a barbershopper and I have been singing that genre for 31 years. Barbershop music is one of the four original art forms, so its roots come from as far back as African slave music. As the genre came into full swing, the music was about songs that were simple and were known to everyone. The harmonies are based on 7 chords, so were arrangements always written down? NO they were not, and those that were, many were passed around. I started in 1979 and that was still going on, not because we did not respect the arranger and composer, it was the urge to make it better. Now all of that has changed, and arrangers/composers are there to help you. They arrange for you, and give you permission to sing their songs. The whole music scene in Brazil!! I had no clue that was going on, I had to watch it twice so I could fully understand what was going on. Perhaps it is my age, but I did not know anything about the remixing of songs. It makes sense after watching the video twice, and with laptops like a Mac Pro it is clear how it is done. The concept of Fair Use really seems to be something that I am not sure that I want to cross that line. The opening is very small. I love how the video said that if you can teach the lesson with out the copyrighted material then don’t use it. I can see using small clips here and there, but in the end I would be more comfortable having permission. The eye opening moment for me was seeing historical videos that are not available any more because of the copyright laws. Part of our history is lost, and I think that is a shame. Where should we go with all of this copyright talk? The section on Creative Commons makes perfect sense to me. It gives the creator the flexibility to share the work on his/her terms. Sharing allows for more to be created from anyone, and the original can get better and better. It is a win, win situation if you ask me.

 My Response to David:

Your post really got me thinking about your art form of Barbershop.  The harmonies and arrangements are very similar for all songs, so are they still copyrighted?  I found “The Barbershop Harmony Society” has an article titled,” Copyright Basics for Barbershoppers”.
It can be found at the following link:

 https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:N-6_0lHaFm0J:www.barbershop.org/document-center/category/8-copyright-legal.html?download%3D68%253Acopyright-basics-for-barbershoppers+Copyright+Basics+for+Barbershoppers&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgy9wlm6ERXyzIjbeOGG4M_42VvsVdC1RvJ8JqSGcdYusggU0X-Bd_eY1vMn_U0Ev7xiLbQj7VjGYgrU00NGhr5e8Y5E5fHw5koCncWStWHcdsyMg88Rv6IKuwVjnnw1sp7Noat&sig=AHIEtbQsTw1wjBmfcDVqREBjtYR-k-DYNw

The statement that jumped out at me was: “Violations could result in a substantial fine. Examples of violations include arranging, selling an arrangement, or photocopying without permission. Penalties can range from $20,000 to $100,000 per copy, so it behooves all Barbershoppers to abide by the copyright statutes.”All I have to say is be careful my friend!  I am curious how you obtain the arrangements for the music you use in competitions.  Is it purchased or do you compose it yourself? 

Random Post

Most people I speak with do not appreciate or enjoy sampling old music into new songs.  However, being a Dirty Dancing and Patrick Swayze fan and teaching in the inner city, I find this to be an awesome new song!  Enjoy!

Week One: Comment to Amanda's Post

Amanda Rhymer's Week 1 blog:

My mother is fond of saying: there’re no new stories…it’s all just the same story, retold.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190590/

I’m reminded of one of my favorite movies, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”  The movie is essentially a remake of Homer’s The Odyssey.  Of course, the copyright on The Odyssey must surely be up by now and who would own that copyright anyway?  A fellow teacher just told me that she uses “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” to teach The Odyssey. Same story. Who knew?

If it’s all just the same story, retold…then maybe it’s all just the same music, remixed? I still have my old mix tapes from the ‘80’s, in a box somewhere, and I have CD’s that my girls and I made over the years with music mixes (of our own purchased music) on them.  Things are much easier now with digital media, our iPods are just one big mixed device.  In one of the videos we watched, they blamed piracy for killing the record stores.  I think that’s a stretch.  Digital media has been a game changer for lots of industries and only those willing to change with the times are going to survive.  I still buy whole albums on iTunes, most of the time.  And I still buy real books to enjoy the total sensation of reading for pleasure. But I think that re-mixing may be here to stay, in fact, I really enjoy some of the new mixes that use some familiar 80's tunes!

Now I’m off to watch my legally purchased copy of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

My Response to Amanda:

Amanda,

Our tastes are so similar it is scary.  “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is one of my favorite movies and soundtracks of all time.   You make an excellent point about there being no new stories, just the same story retold.  The Odyssey has had so many modern day takes on it (including a hilarious episode of The Simpsons), did all of these versions have to receive permission to use Homer’s work?   What if The Odyssey were only 50 years old instead of 3,000 ~ would movies like this then be forbidden because of copyright law?  I suppose they would.  And this makes me think of The Wizard of Oz.  There have been lots of movies and cartoons based on it; did the filmmakers have to obtain permission to use the characters first?  Did “The Wiz” have permission?  Lots to ponder...

Week One Leadership :  To Publish or Present

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I have done various presentations for my school district for Professional Development and have also presented regionally.  However, I have never been published in a journal.  I plan to publish for my leadership project so I can try something I have never done before and maybe it will open more doors in the future.