Issues in School Libraries:  Copyright (Fair Use) & Access to Information

IRLS 520 Group Presentation

Elizabeth SolteroNatalia de Roock

Linda AlvaradoAric Villarreal

"The Ethical School Librarian"

Image by  Lou Brooks, from article "Stolen Words", School Library Journal. (2001, Feb.)

School Libraries Introduction• School librarians are in a very unique situation when it comes to upholding the principles of

ALA's Code of Ethics and Library Bill of Rights.

• The school library is a very much different environment than a public library. They are to offer access to information to the school community as well as teach information literacy lessons. As a school librarian they wear the hat as a teacher. But, not only are they a teacher, they are also information specialists, instructional partners and program administrators. (AASL, p. ) On top of all that, they must also take on the role of "Copyright Adviser" or as some teachers call it "Copyright Police".

• This means that  the school librarian has a huge task of teaching and modeling to students, teachers, administrators, staff, parents and community members how to respect intellectual property and follow copyright law.

• Sometimes, it's not quite that easy to do or follow it "by the book" ...

Copyright and Fairuse 

 

What is Copyright? According to Wikipedia, copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Generally, it is "the right to copy", but also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other, related rights.

When did copyright law begin? Copyright was created as a way for government to restrict printing this occurred after the creation of the printing press in the late 15th century in England. To learn more about copyright history visit the U.S.  Copyright Offic website at www.copyright.gov.  

 

What is Fair Use?Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test. 

In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Not My School Librarian!

• You all may be thinking to yourself...hmm...my school librarian, a copyright infringer? No way! Not that sweet little old lady, and my elementary teachers would never think twice about doing that either!

• Well...think back to the good ol' days of...movie day? Remember that? You thought your elementary school teacher was the greatest because on rainy days s/he would just pop in a popular Disney video and that would take care of 30 minutes until lunch? Well, today, that same teacher would be violating copyright law.

Copyright Guidelines For Educators

Thanks to the Technology & Learning Publication they have offered teachers a wonderful copyright chart to refer to when faced with copyright issues in the school.  

• Video: Teachers may use in classroom. Copies of videos ONLY okay if made for archival purposes or to replace. Use should be instructional, not for entertainment or reward. So, if a teacher creates a multiple copies for teachers they are infringing on copyright.

• Printed Material: Example of short means two pages (max) from a children's book or poems less than 250 words. Teachers may only make one copy per student. "Consumables", such as workbooks may not be copied. So, if a teacher wants to make just one copy of a short children's book for a child's assignment, they are infringing copyright.

• Video for Projects: Students "may use portions of lawfully acquired multimedia," defined as 10 percent or three minutes (whichever is less) of "motion media."

More on Educational Fair Use• Music: A maximum of 30 seconds per musical composition may be used.

Multimedia program must have an educational purpose.  So, teachers and teacher librarians should remind students not to use more than the maximum time of music. One of the common beliefs of the American Association of School Librarians for students is "ethical behavior in the use of information should be taught." This is one of the standards for 21st Century Learners.

• Internet: Resources from the Web may not be reposted onto the Inernet without permission. However, links to legitimate resources can be posted. Any resources you download must have been legitimately acquired by the Web site.

• Television: Broadcasts or tapes made from broadcast may be used for instruction, but schools are allowed to retain broadcast tapes for a maximum of 10 school days. (PBS's Reading Rainbow allows for much more.)

• Computer Software: Only one machine at a time may use this software. Number of users not to exceed number of licenses. 

Events at School Library & School

National Copyright Consultant, Gary Becker, answers a question asked by a librarian...

Question: May we use an entertainment video, rented from a neighborhood rental store or personal collection, for a family night at our school?

Answer: The use of entertainment videos for a public showing, with or without an admittance charge, requires a public performance license. (Price license depends on student enrollment)

Image from www.fumcmarblefalls.com

Recording Book Readings

Another question posed to Mr. Becker:

Q: May video taped recordings of a teacher orally reading a book from the library's collection be made for the purpose of viewing over the school's TV distribution system for special occasions, such as Children's Book Week?

A: Reading a book onto audio tape or video tape constitutes making a copy of the entire book and changing the format. Both are potential violations of the rights of the copyright holder. Then, taking the copied work and airing it over a transmission system, without transmission rights, is another potential violation.

Access to InformationHow is access to information tied to copyright in school libraries?

• Educators have a responsibility to provide quality information to students.

• Sometimes the ability to provide information is impeded by certain constraints.

• Financial and time constraints are the most common.

For example...• A teacher has 30 students, but only has 25

copies of a book needed for a specific learning outcome.

• The school has maxed out its budget for materials  -OR-

• Purchase orders are backlogged and won't be processed in time.

The possible solution...Photocopy the 5 needed books to fulfill the intended learning outcomes.

Access to InformationWhat kind of access to information should students have?

Article V of the ALA's Library Bill of Rights states:

The "right to use a library" includes free access to, and unrestricted use of, all the services, materials, and facilities the library has to offer. Every restriction on access to, and use of, library resources, based solely on the chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or legal emancipation of users violates Article V.

     The ALA's Questions and Answers on Privacy and Confedentiality states:

The rights of minors to privacy regarding their choice of library materials should be respected and protected.

***Should students have this kind of access to information?

Do the ethical implications of access to information conflict with the ethical implications of copyright in school libraries?

What do you think?

Access to InformationControversies Between Some School Libraries' Practice and the ALA's Position

• Censorship of content

• Holding controversial books behind the counter

• Categorizing books based on literacy levels of students (color coding)

• Doubting students' ability to evaluate information

• Doubting students' ability to determine a material's relevance for themselves.

• Can you think of other examples?

Why is this problematic?• It discriminates against children based on age

or a perceived correlated literacy level.

• Teacher librarians become censors of library  materials, thus limiting students' access to information.

• Students, not teacher librarians, determine what information is relevant to their own lives.

Although teacher librarians have expertise with children's materials, are they always the expert?

Access to InformationSumming it up--

IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto The School Library:Teaching and Learning for All

School library services must be provided equally to all members of the school community, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, nationality, language, professional or social status. Specific services and materials must be provided for those who are unable to use mainstream library services and materials.

Access to services and collections should be based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms, and should not be subject to any form of ideological, political or religious censorship, or to commercial pressures.

***Is this a realistic expectation given the everyday  experiences school

libraries and teacher librarians face?

What do you think?

Consequentialist Theory

Utilitarianism

Utilitarians would be in favor of strict copyright laws because overall happiness would be in place. The owner/author of material would be used appropriately (fair use) and the user would still be able to access and use the material but with limitations.

John Stuart Mill says that his arguements for unfettered access to information only apply to those in the "maturity of their faculties". In the case of schools, this could be librarians capable of dealing with copyright issues.

As quoted in Mathiesen "Children's Access to Information" 3/10/08.

 

Caption: Image of John Mill

Non-Consequentialist Theory

Caption: Image of JJ Rawls

Rights-Based Theory

Rawlsians would oppose the strict copyright laws because under "veil of ignorance", one must conceive of the distribution of resources as if they were in a position of disadvantage such as poorer school districts with smaller school library budgets wouldn't be able to purchase multiple copies or books for use in classrooms. (e.g.- making classroom copies of text), therefore, under the veil of ignorance, those in the starting position would be more in favor of fair use.

Duty Based Theory

Kantians would say that, if copyright is violated, copyright holders are not being treated as ends.

Kantians would also say that, if we were to make it a universal law that copyright restrictions were to be disregarded, then the concept of “intellectual property” would be meaningless, since there would be no point behind copyrighting one’s work. 

W.D. Ross

Ross's theory focuses on the individual's moral intuition. Ross spoke of "prima facie" obligations which play a huge role in determining what a person ought to do in any given case. His seven obligations include: fidelity, reparation, gratitude, non-maleficence, justice, beneficence and self improvement.  Ross allowed the thought that there can never be a true ethical dilemma because one of the prima facie obligations in a given situation is always the weightiest, and overrules all the others.

 

What would he say about copyright infringement?Ross would say as for the teacher librarian put in the position of making mutliple copies of short picture books for students at the request of a teacher, that the teacher librarian has a moral obligation to support the prima facie obligation of "fidelity" and "beneficence". As a teacher first, one has a duty not to interfere with the learning of students.

Copyright & Access to Information Issues for School Librarians    Now that we have discussed copyright and access to information and theories, we would like to share real life situations faced by a public school librarian. The librarian was asked to share her experience with copyright and access.

• "All the teachers share ideas taken from workbooks or another source. In this librarian's experience, if a teacher only has one workbook which contains good excercises, then several teachers make copies." What are they to do if they do not have the funding to purchase several copies?

• KUAT educational videos are allowed to be shown for a year if the provider is still airing it. This librarian has a copied collection of about 20 videos. Although, KUAT will not being airing these videos anymore, this librarian has no intention to trash her collection, but to keep them as a

resource for her students. What would you do? • This librarian's students were completing a unit on learning how to square

dance. She checked out the video from the library and at this time the policy only allowed videos to be checked out for 7 days. Although, she needed it for a longer amount of time, she decided to copy it and let her students continue finish their unit on dancing. What would you do?

More Situations to consider...

• This librarian holds sessions to teach her students about copyright use and giving credit. In her experience, Students doing their own research, assume copying pictures is "free" and okay. The librarian says, " if it is on the internet and one is able to copy it then this is usually considered okay." What

do you think? 

• A common situation faced by this librarian is issues of providing parents with access to their student's account. This not only affects the students'  privacy, but how are students to check out books if they owe money they personally can not pay for. This librarian explained that providing parents with information regarding their student's account in regards to paying lost dues is an on going. In a situation as this the librarian said she would provide the information as long as the student says it is okay. She also allows students to work in the library to pay off their fees. What would you do?

• Keep in Mind...Librarian's budget: $12 per student for smaller schools. A majority of school library budgets are around $4,000 for the school year. Which for a school of 1100 students ends up being $3.63/student.

Great Video from Center for Media Literacy: "Cost of Copyright"

Click on this link to access video at YouTube.[excerpt from YouTube Video Description]"This video illustrates the reasons why media literacy educators are at the forefront of the user rights movement because of their reliance on the use of copyrighted materials in their teaching. We see how teachers' confusion about copyright affects the quality of teaching and learning, the ability to share innovative teaching practices, and students' understanding of the law."

Questions?

• What are your thoughts on copyright issues in the school library?

• What are your thoughts on access to information issues in the school library?

• How would you approach teachers or students who might be violating copyright?

• Is it possible to maintain copyright and access to information ethics with the continuously new challenges school libraries and teacher librarians face day to day?

References:• Fair use. (2008, March 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:09, March 26, 2008, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fair_use&oldid=200732024• Intellectual property. (2008, March 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:10, March 26,

2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Intellectual_property&oldid=201146104 • Copyright. (2008, March 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:11, March 27, 2008, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Copyright&oldid=201182781 • American Library Association. Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. Chicago: ALA. 1998.• ------. 1996."Library Bill of Rights". [Cited  3/29/2008]. Available at:

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillrights.cfm• ------.2006. "Questions and Answers on Privacy and Confidentiality" [cited 3/30/08]. Available at:

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=interpretations&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=34114

• Becker, G. (27, January 2008) Copyright Law Information and Resources for Educators and Librarians. Questions and Answers. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from http://beckercopyright.com/id13.html

• Russell, C. Stolen Words. School Library Journal. (2001, Feb.)• International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. 2006. "IFLA/UNESCO School Library

Manifesto: The School Library in Teaching and Learning for All".[Cited 4/1/2008]. Available at: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/manifest.htm

• Newsome, C. (©1997). A Teacher's Guide to Fair Use and Copyright. Updated 2000, Jan.21. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm

• Center for Social Media. (2007-2008). The Cost of Copyright for Media Literacy. Educational Video hosted on YouTube. Retrieved March 28, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUxIDF-3Pdk

• Hauptli, Bruce W. Copyright 2007. Lecture Supplement to W.D. Ross’ "What Makes Right Acts Right?"[1930]* Accessed http://www.fiu.edu/~hauptli/Ross'WhatMakesRightActsRight.htm