I have heard that voice that says, "Should we publish these projects the way they are?" (referenced from 'Thing 9' wikispace page.) and so I've been eager to jump into this "thing", but I'm still a bit turned around, I think. The information is certainly there for me, I just feel like when I think I've got it, I'm confused again.
The good thing is that I'm not as confused as I was before I began this task; so that's a start. Before, I wondered about my students using images from Google in their PowerPoints. I thought there had to be something wrong with that, even if they're only showing the presentation to the class. From what I've read so far, this is okay in the classroom, just not in a published form for the general public to view...right? But then, where does 'fair use' come in to play? For example, today in class my kids were creating PowerPoints and working on hyperlinking pages within the slideshow. They, of course, were getting images from Google. One student asks, "Is it okay to use Google images?" I say, "Sure, just as long as you don't publish this"--the 'don't publish this' was an inside joke to myself, and yes, I did laugh.
But when I take a look at the Fair Use rock video and read the guidelines for Fair Use, I think, well...could the pictures in the PowerPoint have value added? They are in a different context, I assume. I guess I don't really know where the original picture is from.
The Fair Use Reasoning Tool will surely be helpful when trying to decide though, so I'm glad to have that resource. I also really enjoyed the Video Case Study from Upper Marion Area H.S. This video made things increasingly more clear for me. What I find interesting is that usually the visual things are what I grasp. In the case of copyright, it seems that I have a better handle on the language side than the pictorial.
To answer some of the questions for this blog post, I have never noticed CC on a website before, but will definitely look for it now, much the same way I spot 'RSS' now. I do use images, audio and video clips from online as part of my teaching practice. I think that a knowledge of Creative Commons and access to sites that have materials licensed by Creative Commons can make students' research more efficient. It can also take stress away from the teacher, as long as the students have received quality instruction on how to go about using CC. A possible downside to Creative Commons is that if you allow your work to have the CC label, what happens if someone repurposes it in such a way that is distateful or embarrassing? What if it is used in a way that violates the original owner's beliefs? I don't know--I'm just thinking of potential problems. Could someone repurpose a CC image and then make tons of money off of it? I guess if you're going to put the information out there, then you just have to be willing to take the risk that that could happen.
Bottom line for me at this point is I'm going to review all the info in Thing 9 and use the Fair Use Reasoning Tool fo sho!
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First of all - great post! I can tell that you've put a lot of thought into this issue. I'd like to tackle two CC related questions that you had first.
ReplyDelete"...what happens if someone repurposes it in such a way that is distateful or embarrassing? What if it is used in a way that violates the original owner's beliefs?"
Remember that there are MANY ways to license content as CC. If you license it with No Derivative, that means they shouldn't take your original work and change it. They can use it AS IS.
"Could someone repurpose a CC image and then make tons of money off of it? "
If you license an image with CC so that they aren't to make any money off of it, then no. However, can they take your image and incorporate it into something else entirely and then SELL that new product for money? ONLY if it meets the burden of Fair Use and that ONLY applies in an educational context.
Remember that Fair Use is only Fair Use in the educational arena, which is why, in my opinion, that the Obama poster is NOT Fair Use even though it was transformed if the artist made money off of it.
Can your kids use Google images? Yes, but only if they don't publish it. That piece is where you are correct. However, why not begin to encourage them to search Flickr's CC collection so that if YOU decide that they should publish their creations (YES, YES, YES), then you're already covered as long as they've given credit to the source.
Now, simply taking a picture from Google and putting it into a report that could potentially be published....is that transformativeness? In my opinion, no. Others might argue with me on this.
Can you argue that you've added value to it? Perhaps, but keep in mind that the video example is one where the students took an image and created a virtual zoo. The image wasn't there to compliment the content. The image, again in my opinion, was the FOCUS of their content to which they added value to by their research on the various animals.
Granted, I have no idea what the focus of your projects were, so I may be way off base, but if the above scenario proves true (the image complimenting rather than being the focus of new content to embellish it), then I would say it doesn't meet the Fair Use test and it would be best to use Creative Commons licensed images instead.
Clear as murky water? Maybe? One last comment...I still get confused if that makes you feel any better! I'm hoping they'll create a few more of those scenario videos that you referred to. They're an incredible resource!
An Aha! moment. I have now benefited what we call the 'Pause' and 'Reflection' part of learning. (The part that we don't always have time for when we're teaching, if we want to be perfectly honest.) So it's been over two months since I wrote this blog post and I'm more confident about Fair Use. My issue in the above blog post:
ReplyDeleteFor example, today in class my kids were creating PowerPoints and working on hyperlinking pages within the slideshow. But when I take a look at the Fair Use rock video and read the guidelines for Fair Use, I think, well...could the pictures in the PowerPoint have value added? They are in a different context, I assume. I guess I don't really know where the original picture is from.
I can saw with certainty now that those pics did not meet Fair Use. The students were using them to add embellishment to their text, not to add value to the actual pictures. Ah-ha! I've figured it out...this time. : )