COPYRIGHT AND THE EDUCATOR 1

Copyright, Fair Use, and the Responsibility of the Educator

Bret D. Gosselin

Lamar University
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Copyright, Fair Use, and the Responsibility of the Educator

Through this week’s learning of copyright policy, it became clear that many educators are

unaware of what the law actually says about using protected work. We hear terms like

‘plagiarism’ or ‘fair use’ but often lack the granular knowledge of what these really mean and

how they impact the material we prepare for our students. For instance, many educators are

under the false assumption that it is acceptable to reproduce a copyrighted work so long as it is

being used for instruction. While there are some protections for educators, they are far more

restrictive than many realize (Stim, 2013). As educators who work in developing the intellect of

our young people, we must be all the more aware of how to protect the intellectual property that

our students may someday produce. Thus, our adherence to copyright law is how we can

demonstrate respect for the minds who created the works that we value enough to put in front of

our students.

In order to accomplish this, educators must learn to navigate the policies governing the

use of protected material. For instance, many of us are clear on what plagiarism is, defined by

Bailey (2013) as “the taking the original work or works of another and presenting it as your

own.” We recognize this in printed material used in writing, but fail to extend the same ethics

into the use of digital media. This is when we breach copyright infringement and begin using

music, videos, and even entire novels in ways that are unlawful to the creators of the content

(Bailey, 2013). This is when taking advantage of works that are open sourced, licensed through

Creative Commons, or within public domain would better suit educators in presenting content to

their students (Borel, n.d.). Once again, even these sources have limitations that need to be

adhered to, such as the fact that Creative Commons licenses vary and do not allow for

completely free use of intellectual property under these protections (“About the Licenses,”n.d.).
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To thus demonstrate ethical use of such content, we must first educate ourselves in the details of

the laws and policies that protect intellectual property and its creators.

As educators, we have a responsibility to model respect for the creative efforts of others.

Adhering to copyright law is more than a mere safeguard against legal sanctions, but an ethical

response to the intellectual labor behind the digital media and print we have access to. It is not

acceptable to remain in ignorance of what we are able to share or reproduce simply because we

are using such material for instructional purposes. To do so would be a poor demonstration of

character to our students and would thus reinforce unethical practices with intellectual property.

We have the opportunity to set the expectation for our learners to adhere to policy and protect the

work of the authors and artists whose work we admire. This is the very nature of digital

citizenship and as members of a global community, it is our obligation to be knowledgeable of

the rights that protect the content we continually interact with.

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References

About the licenses. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Bailey, L. (2013, October 7). The difference between copyright infringement and plagiarism.

Retrived from https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2013/10/07/difference-copyright-

infringement-plagiarism/

Borel, D.(n.d.). Copyright and copywrongs: The long arm of the law. Retrieved from Blackboard

Learning Management System

Stim, R. (2013). Educational uses of non-coursepack materials. Retrieved from

https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/academic-and-educational-permissions/non-

coursepack/