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Copyright

Can I copy material from the internet for research?

You should first check the website for any statements about copyright which apply to the material you want to

copy – the copyright owner may expressly allow you to print and/or download material, possibly under stated

conditions. Otherwise, you may print and/or save material to disk if:

• it is for your research or study; and

• the copying is fair, having regard to the five factors set out above.

It is unlikely to be either for research or study, or fair, to provide copies of the material you have downloaded to

other people (eg as an email attachment).

Using copyright material for research or study

As a result of special provisions in the Copyright Act, if you use copyright material for the purpose of research or

study, you do not infringe copyright, provided your use is “fair”. Whether or not your use is fair will depend on all

the circumstances.

Working out what is “fair”

The Act sets out two situations deemed fair when dealing with copyright material for research or study and sets out guidelines which should be applied in other cases.

A “reasonable portion” of text or notated music

If you are reproducing text or printed music from a hard copy edition of 10 or more pages, the Act deems that it is fair to copy:

• 10% of the number of pages; or

• one chapter, if the work is divided into chapters.

For text material published in electronic form, it is deemed to be fair to copy:

• 10% of the number of words; or

• one chapter, if the work is divided into chapters.

If the material is available in hardcopy and separately in electronic form, you can choose which form to use, and

apply the relevant test to work out what is deemed to be fair.)

An article from a periodical publication

The Act deems that it is fair to reproduce an article from a periodical publication (such as a newspaper, magazine or journal) or more than one article if each article is for the same research or course of study.

Copying more than the amounts deemed fair

You will have to consider all the circumstances to work out if it is fair to reproduce more than the above amounts of textual material, or if you want to do something with textual material other than reproduce it. For other material, such as drawings, photographs, unpublished material and so on, the Act does not state how much you may use without permission. Rather, you will need to consider whether, in all the circumstances, it is fair to use the material.

The Act does set out some factors for working out whether, in all the circumstances, your use is fair in relation to reproductions of copyright material for the purpose of research or study. These are:

• the purpose and character of the dealing (for example, copying in connection with a course is more likely to be fair than copying for research which may be used commercially);

• the nature of the work (for example, it may be less fair to copy a work resulting from a high degree of skill than a mundane work);

• the possibility of obtaining the work within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price

(generally, it is unlikely to be fair to photocopy all or most of a work that you can buy);

• the effect of the dealing on the potential market for, or value of, the work (making a copy is unlikely to be fair if the publisher sells or licenses copies, for example from its website); and

• in a case where part only of the work is copied, the amount and substantiality of the part copied in relation to the whole work (it is less fair to copy a large or important part of the work than to copy a small or unimportant part).

It is likely that a court would also refer to these types of factors for other dealings with copyright material which are not reproductions.

References:

http://www.copyright.org.au/pdf/acc/infosheets.pdf/g053.pdf/download

Music Videos

My students want to use music in videos they are creating for a class assessment.

Is that OK?

Generally, students will be able to dub music into videos they are making for class (see “Research or study” above).

However, if the purpose for which the music is being dubbed includes other purposes, such as public screening, entry into competitions or broadcast on local TV, permission will generally be required from relevant copyright owners.

References:

http://www.copyright.org.au/038.pdf

Blogging as a School Pedagogy

In South Belmore school, blogging is seen as an effective idea to enhance student learning and to create a quality teaching and learning environment (Pericles 2008). Connectivity is the key reason of why blogging is relevant to be implemented in schools.

In terms of quality teaching, each students will have the same opportunity to share and asked their ideas through their personal blog to the teachers, fellow classmates, and even other students and people from all over the world (Pericles 2008 p. 5). Blog is seen as an effective way to provide authentic purposes and authentic audiences for classroom activities (Pericles 2008, p.5). The students are therefore integrating to construct new and relevant way of learning and share it with their friends and possible new audiences (Pericles 2008 p.5).

What is more, blogging is not limited and related to only certain school subjects such as computer technology, but also related and used for most key learning areas at school (Pericles 2008 p.6).

Lastly, for a bigger purpose, blog can be used to connect, construct and share ideas, experience, and investigations as well as other information between schools in a country and even all over the world, and learn from each other (Pericles 2008 p.6).

As the new literacies and digital media evolved, providing students to adjust and understand the literacy demands is crucial (International Reading Association 2001; Leu, Mallette, Karchmer & Kara-Soteriou 2005, in Barone & Wright 2008).

The biggest challenge when considering new technologies and student learning is because most assessment evaluate traditional literacy and content knowledge (Barome and Wright 2008).

Many teachers are also reluctant in order to use and integrate new teachnology in their lesson plans (Barome and Wright 2008)

Because of this, preparation and professional support, such as the one given by Apple distinguised educator (ADE), is very important. (Barome and Wright 2008)

Warschauer (2006 in Barone and Wright 2008) documented that when laptops are used in classroom, there are increase and gains in motivation, writing competency, and critical thinking.

References:

Pericles, K. (2008). Happily blogging@ Belmore South. SCAN, 27(2). 4-6 http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/.

Barone, D., &Wright, T.E. (2008). Literacy instruction with digital and media technologies. the Reading Teacher, 62 (4), 292-302.