Thing 9-Trying to make sense of Creative Commons and Fair Use

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!