YouTube also provided me with a classic teachable moment approximately two years ago when they began pulling audio from videos that infringe on copyright. Because I have my students upload their videos on YouTube, I recognized that copyright would have to be dealt with in a more conscientious way.
Though I do believe that most of the compositions my students produce fall under the guidelines of fair use, YouTube’s strict enforcement of copyright regulations prompted me to require that my students produce videos that would either fall under YouTube’s copyright guidelines or would legitimately stand up to YouTube’s dispute process in which uploaders can contest that their video falls under the fair use guidelines. This does provide a teachable moment because a discussion about fair use and copyright guidelines allows for a continuation of previous discussions on avoiding plagiarism and citing sources correctly. I decided the best way to communicate the importance of following the fair use test and using copyrighted materials is to lead by example.
After initially going over the project’s details, I spend one class lecturing about the principles of copyright, the fair use test, and the Creative Commons license. I have put together a PowerPoint presentation using images under the Creative Commons license, and I also show a couple of the videos from the Creative Commons site. By using Creative Commons in my own presentations, students are able to see firsthand how to negotiate copyrighted materials, conduct the fair use test, and utilize the digital media that is available under Creative Commons. Students are able to see pictures found through a Creative Commons search, and we also spend time discussing the four-point fair use test. By giving attribution to each digital image or video used, students are able to understand how citing sources for multimedia sources is just as important as citing sources for their research papers. Because I emphasize the proper attribution of sources within their academic essays early in the semester, these concepts are easily transferred to their multimedia projects.
I do explain that it is okay to use copyrighted songs, as long as they do not use the entire song in the video. I also explain that if their video is pulled for copyright infringement, that they will either have to go through the dispute process or change their video to meet requirements. It is relatively simple to dispute a video as being for commentary or educational purposes, but students are warned that videos that have been disabled will not be graded. This usually results in students using original work, or using digital media that is properly attributed under the Creative Commons license.
At first students are disappointed that they will not be able to use their favorite songs in the videos; however, I emphasize that they are allowed to use copyrighted songs as long as they use them properly under the fair use guidelines. This requires students to consider the guidelines and make their own judgments accordingly. I also point students to sites where they can obtain music tracks that are under the Creative Commons license. The site freeplaymusic.com is a good source for music tracks ranging from acoustic melodies to electronic beats. I continue to add to my resource list every semester. As can be seen in the student videos produced in the fall of 2009, students had enormous success using various digital media appropriately and with proper attribution.
Copyright issues are not going away any time soon, but they should not impede us from using digital media for creative and productive ends in our classrooms.
I believe the best way to address issues of copyright is to begin by incorporating fair use guidelines in our own work and presentations.
When students see their teachers using fair use and Creative Commons in our own work, they can learn by example. As such, I have begun implementing fair use guidelines and digital media under the Creative Commons license in my own presentations. Likewise, I emphasize fair use and copyright laws as a continuation of the discussion of plagiarism and proper citing of sources that is commonplace in the production of traditional academic essays.>>