Greetings!
This week we will start with a little quiz about copyright. Read the scenarios and see how well you do.
Questions:
A. A history teacher was teaching about World War 2 in his classes. One evening he was watching television and noticed that a great documentary was coming on and it would be a perfect addition to his teaching for the next day. He videotaped the documentary and used it in his classroom. Is this legal to do?
B. True or False. The drawings your students do are copyrighted.
C. True or False. It’s OK to copy things if you want to use them for educational purposes. You don’t have to worry about sources; it is fair use.
D. True or False. It’s OK to make copies of your computer software, music CDs, or movie DVDs.
E. Your 8th graders want to use a mix of songs during graduation. Is this legal to do?
Answers:
A. Yes, this is legal to do. There was no time to ask for permission. However, if the teacher wants to keep his copy and use it again the following year, he must then write for permission to use the entire work in his classes.
B. True. Intellectual property is defined as any original creative work that is tangible such as a writing, diagram, work of art, musical compositions, sound recordings, photographs, movies, computer software, and more. Copyright laws today apply as soon as the work is created. You don’t need to mark the work with a copyright symbol. All original creative works – student papers, drawing, etc. – are protected by copyright.
C. False. It is OK to copy things for educational purposes, BUT you still must cite your sources. Copyright law permits the teacher or student to use excerpts from a copyrighted work in a school paper without obtaining the copyright holder’s permission. Students and teachers must still cite their source to avoid plagiarism. Only a small percentage may be used for educational purposes. Students or teachers may not make copies for personal use or to exchange copies with other students.
D. True and False. This is kind of a trick question. It is OK to make a backup copy of your personal items in case one gets damaged. You will still have the original copy to use. However, it is not OK to share these copies with your friends. It is not OK to take your computer software and put it on your desktop, your laptop, and your kids’ laptops for everyone to use unless you are licensed for multiple use. It is OK to download purchased software on multiple devices if only one device will be operating at a time. For example, my husband and I both loved playing a game called “Zuma” a few years ago. He bought it for his computer and we took turns playing it. We would not have been legal if he also downloaded it to his laptop and both of us were playing it at the same time. At work, I have a copy of Microsoft Word on my computer. I am licensed through the school to use this. I can also download it at home so I can work at home and my files will transfer, but I don’t use my work computer at the same time I am using my home computer. The same thing goes for music. I can download my personal CDs on my computer, phone, and other players, but I cannot legally let my friends use my CD (or DVD) to download on their devices, too. If I give my CD to my friend, I must delete the CD from my devices.
E. Probably not. The music industry is very picky about this kind of thing. From all that I have read, you would need to contact the artist or the manager or the record company to check for permission. There are lists of songs that are in the public domain which could be used. It takes some researching to find songs that you would be able to use without contacting the industry for permission. It also takes a long time to hear from them, so if this is something that your school does, it would be good to start very soon.
Just in case anyone is interested, when our churches post the words to hymns or makes transparencies of songs to sing, they should be paying for the right to do so and citing the source.
It can get pretty sticky and some people may think that they won’t get caught. Unfortunately, this is probably true. You may not get caught. But more and more, copyright violators are being caught and sued. Average costs to settle out of court run about $4,500 or more. Copyright violators can also be prosecuted on federal criminal charges. Fines can be up to $250,000 or imprisonment for up to five years or both.
It is my opinion that SDA schools and teachers should be doing their level best to follow the law. Our students (and their parents) need to see us being a good example. I know I am preaching here, but I always ask myself, “Do I want to be kept out of heaven for this?”
For more copyright information go to www.copyright.gov . For lessons for students on copyright go to http://ymiclassroom.com/lesson-plans/b4ucopy/ . These lessons can be downloaded and used with your students.
I hope you have a great week.
Audrey
Monday, February 10, 2014
Copyright Part 2
Greetings!
Last week after I sent my post about copyright, I got some great questions. I am going to try to answer these to the best of my knowledge, but please remember that I am a teacher like you are and not a copyright expert. The information I give you is information that you could find on the internet just like I did. My only ‘advantage’ is that I am interested in copyright and have attended convention sessions and seen webinars on copyright. If you are interested in viewing a webinar about copyright, go to Common Sense Media (commonsensemedia.net), search for ‘Teaching Copyright and Fair Use to the Remix Generation’ and press enter. Then click on the ‘Webinars’ section. It was recorded November 13, 2013. The webinar is just about an hour long and should count toward your technology requirement.
One question I got was regarding using YouTube clips in church or school without permission from the artist. Is this OK? The short answer is yes, it is probably OK. Here’s why.
“People seem to think that because the public can access videos on YouTube, for free, the vids are in the public domain. (I suppose this follows from the “everything on the Internet is public domain” misconception.) They’re in a public space, true, and people don’t have to pay to see them, but that doesn’t affect copyright.
You do in fact retain copyright in your video when you post it to YouTube (that would be your video, not your Stephen Colbert clip). But by posting it you grant YouTube a license to do pretty much whatever it wants with your work. That includes sublicensing it to others and modifying it (making derivative works). The license terminates within “a commercially reasonable time” once you remove your work from the YouTube site. And you still own the copyright.” http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/10-misconceptions-about-the-public-domain.html
Another question was about something that many of our schools do. We make a PowerPoint with words to songs to project during a song service. Is this OK? Do we need to get permission to do this?
It looks like the short answer to this is, yes, it is OK if it is for a worship service. Here’s why.
The U.S. Copyright Law (Section 110 [c]) provides an exemption for performance and display of "works of a religious nature in a religious service." Many churches and ministries today need performance licenses from ASCAP, BMI and SESAC because they are performing or causing to be performed (playing) music in many non-exempt settings outside their religious services. The non-exempt performances or playing of music require licensing - concerts (non-ticketed), social and youth events, fund raisers, aerobics and dance classes, conferences, music-on-hold - really any time music is played or performed in your facilities outside a worship service.
One more thing. If you do use a song or the words to a song, and it is legally used whether it is for a religious service or song service, wouldn’t it be a good idea to give as much credit as possible? You may have noticed in our hymnals we give the author of the song and the composer of the tune if they are known. Why shouldn’t we do the same thing in our PowerPoints?
http://www.freeandlegaldownloads.com/resources/music_legal
What is the best way to check if a song is public domain? This is a hard question to answer because there are so many variables to consider. I guess that the best way to check for public domain is to contact the publisher of the music. That way you can get permission to use the song if you need it. Here is a website that I found with lists of songs in public domain and also lists of royalty free music. http://www.pdinfo.com/
Are movies shown at your school? If you have DVDs or videotapes for educational purposes, this is OK. But if you show movies for class parties, rewards, family events, school care programs, rainy day recess, or other things like this, you need to pay a fee in order to do this. It is a yearly fee and will cover all of the items mentioned above. The fee is $105.00 for schools with student populations up to 150 which would be nearly all of our schools. I know that it doesn’t seem like it should cost that much for a school that has less than 40 or 50, but it may be that the organization would make special pricing for our small schools.
However, if you show a movie for a fundraiser, this is not covered in the above umbrella policy. I understand that you must contact the distributor for permission to do this. This is the website for more information on the umbrella policy. http://www.mplc.org/page/dayschool
For your information, here is another site I found for information about copyright.
http://www.christiancopyrightsolutions.com/blog/category/Religious-Service-Exemption-US-Copyright-Law-Church-exemption
I hope this has been helpful to you. If you have copyright questions, I am happy to try to help you find the answers. But first, try typing in the information you want to know in the search box. Usually you will be steered toward webpages that will help you find the answer. If this does not help, please let me know and I will do my best to help you.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Last week after I sent my post about copyright, I got some great questions. I am going to try to answer these to the best of my knowledge, but please remember that I am a teacher like you are and not a copyright expert. The information I give you is information that you could find on the internet just like I did. My only ‘advantage’ is that I am interested in copyright and have attended convention sessions and seen webinars on copyright. If you are interested in viewing a webinar about copyright, go to Common Sense Media (commonsensemedia.net), search for ‘Teaching Copyright and Fair Use to the Remix Generation’ and press enter. Then click on the ‘Webinars’ section. It was recorded November 13, 2013. The webinar is just about an hour long and should count toward your technology requirement.
One question I got was regarding using YouTube clips in church or school without permission from the artist. Is this OK? The short answer is yes, it is probably OK. Here’s why.
“People seem to think that because the public can access videos on YouTube, for free, the vids are in the public domain. (I suppose this follows from the “everything on the Internet is public domain” misconception.) They’re in a public space, true, and people don’t have to pay to see them, but that doesn’t affect copyright.
You do in fact retain copyright in your video when you post it to YouTube (that would be your video, not your Stephen Colbert clip). But by posting it you grant YouTube a license to do pretty much whatever it wants with your work. That includes sublicensing it to others and modifying it (making derivative works). The license terminates within “a commercially reasonable time” once you remove your work from the YouTube site. And you still own the copyright.” http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/10-misconceptions-about-the-public-domain.html
Another question was about something that many of our schools do. We make a PowerPoint with words to songs to project during a song service. Is this OK? Do we need to get permission to do this?
It looks like the short answer to this is, yes, it is OK if it is for a worship service. Here’s why.
The U.S. Copyright Law (Section 110 [c]) provides an exemption for performance and display of "works of a religious nature in a religious service." Many churches and ministries today need performance licenses from ASCAP, BMI and SESAC because they are performing or causing to be performed (playing) music in many non-exempt settings outside their religious services. The non-exempt performances or playing of music require licensing - concerts (non-ticketed), social and youth events, fund raisers, aerobics and dance classes, conferences, music-on-hold - really any time music is played or performed in your facilities outside a worship service.
One more thing. If you do use a song or the words to a song, and it is legally used whether it is for a religious service or song service, wouldn’t it be a good idea to give as much credit as possible? You may have noticed in our hymnals we give the author of the song and the composer of the tune if they are known. Why shouldn’t we do the same thing in our PowerPoints?
http://www.freeandlegaldownloads.com/resources/music_legal
What is the best way to check if a song is public domain? This is a hard question to answer because there are so many variables to consider. I guess that the best way to check for public domain is to contact the publisher of the music. That way you can get permission to use the song if you need it. Here is a website that I found with lists of songs in public domain and also lists of royalty free music. http://www.pdinfo.com/
Are movies shown at your school? If you have DVDs or videotapes for educational purposes, this is OK. But if you show movies for class parties, rewards, family events, school care programs, rainy day recess, or other things like this, you need to pay a fee in order to do this. It is a yearly fee and will cover all of the items mentioned above. The fee is $105.00 for schools with student populations up to 150 which would be nearly all of our schools. I know that it doesn’t seem like it should cost that much for a school that has less than 40 or 50, but it may be that the organization would make special pricing for our small schools.
However, if you show a movie for a fundraiser, this is not covered in the above umbrella policy. I understand that you must contact the distributor for permission to do this. This is the website for more information on the umbrella policy. http://www.mplc.org/page/dayschool
For your information, here is another site I found for information about copyright.
http://www.christiancopyrightsolutions.com/blog/category/Religious-Service-Exemption-US-Copyright-Law-Church-exemption
I hope this has been helpful to you. If you have copyright questions, I am happy to try to help you find the answers. But first, try typing in the information you want to know in the search box. Usually you will be steered toward webpages that will help you find the answer. If this does not help, please let me know and I will do my best to help you.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Monday, January 27, 2014
God's Kids Book Fair
Greetings!
This week we are hosting a book fair that is a bit different from the regular Scholastic Book Fair. This one is through the Baergens who come to our school, set up the fair and run it for the week. They do all the work and the school receives a small percentage of sales that translates into free books.
The Baergens have been coming to our school for a number of years now and many of our parents are happy to see them each year. They bring books from Christian (non SDA) publishers only. The books range from books for preschoolers through adults. They also bring Bibles, T-shirts, and small inexpensive items such as erasers for students to purchase. The Baergens have a number of Adventist schools or churches on their schedule and are familiar with Adventist values.
If you are interested in learning more about the possibility of hosting a fair at your school or church, you can contact Lauretta Baergen at nhmessengers@hotmail.com.
Have a great week!
Audrey
This week we are hosting a book fair that is a bit different from the regular Scholastic Book Fair. This one is through the Baergens who come to our school, set up the fair and run it for the week. They do all the work and the school receives a small percentage of sales that translates into free books.
The Baergens have been coming to our school for a number of years now and many of our parents are happy to see them each year. They bring books from Christian (non SDA) publishers only. The books range from books for preschoolers through adults. They also bring Bibles, T-shirts, and small inexpensive items such as erasers for students to purchase. The Baergens have a number of Adventist schools or churches on their schedule and are familiar with Adventist values.
If you are interested in learning more about the possibility of hosting a fair at your school or church, you can contact Lauretta Baergen at nhmessengers@hotmail.com.
Have a great week!
Audrey
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Historical Collection
Greetings!
A few years ago we started a ‘file’ of sorts for information about Rogers. When the Gleaner has information about Rogers or our students or our teachers, we clip the article and put it in a designated place. If the newspaper prints something about Rogers, our students, or teachers, it also goes in the designated place. Someone found a collection of old photographs from the 1940s through the 60s for our collection.
I will admit that I am not always good at remembering to add to this collection, but we have put the word out to the teachers and parents. Occasionally I get an article or item for our historical file.
I guess at some point ‘someone’ will have to go through and organize these things, but for now they are located in two drawers in the library.
I wondered if you had something similar. Do you keep a collection of articles, photos, or other items that have meaning for your school? If you don’t, it’s not too late to start. You could check with your church and see if anyone has photographs of the school being built, or from its early days. What about pictures of the former principals or teachers? Any yearbooks available for the school collection? Parents and other church members might be on the lookout for articles about the teachers or students and clip them for you. Think about starting your own historical collection.
I hope you have a great week.
Audrey
A few years ago we started a ‘file’ of sorts for information about Rogers. When the Gleaner has information about Rogers or our students or our teachers, we clip the article and put it in a designated place. If the newspaper prints something about Rogers, our students, or teachers, it also goes in the designated place. Someone found a collection of old photographs from the 1940s through the 60s for our collection.
I will admit that I am not always good at remembering to add to this collection, but we have put the word out to the teachers and parents. Occasionally I get an article or item for our historical file.
I guess at some point ‘someone’ will have to go through and organize these things, but for now they are located in two drawers in the library.
I wondered if you had something similar. Do you keep a collection of articles, photos, or other items that have meaning for your school? If you don’t, it’s not too late to start. You could check with your church and see if anyone has photographs of the school being built, or from its early days. What about pictures of the former principals or teachers? Any yearbooks available for the school collection? Parents and other church members might be on the lookout for articles about the teachers or students and clip them for you. Think about starting your own historical collection.
I hope you have a great week.
Audrey
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Magazines, Part 2
Greetings!
Last week I talked about magazines and focuses on the secular options which are usually the ones that come into question. This week I will talk about some options for SDA publications.
You are likely associated with a church and can get your name on a list to receive the children’s weekly papers like Little Friend, Primary Treasure, Guide, and Insight. It may be that the church will pay for a copy of each for you. You might think that the children already have read them, but remember that many of our schools also have children from other denominations in them that may not have read them.
Other SDA publications that might work in your library are your local conference paper – North Pacific Union has the Gleaner.
Liberty magazine - information on religious freedom.
Listen and Vibrant Life – focus on health and nutrition.
Winner – health, temperance and focused toward middle grades.
Signs of the Times, The Review, and other publications could also be options for your school library.
It may be that families or church members might sponsor subscriptions to the magazines that you choose or may donate their copy when they are finished reading them.
How you subscribe to your magazines is another option. Your school may have a magazine campaign fundraiser and you get your subscriptions through the school. This is certainly an option. If you only have a few magazines, this is probably the best way to go for you. However, if you have many periodicals each month, you should seriously consider using a subscription service called “EBSCO”. I use EBSCO for these reasons. The price is competitive. It is easy for me to renew all the subscriptions at once rather than one at a time. If I miss an issue, I report it to EBSCO and they handle it for me.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
This is the last post until January. Have a blessed, restful, happy vacation.
Audrey
Monday, December 9, 2013
Magazines
Greetings!
Do you have any magazines in your library for kids to read? I hope so. If not, then here are some that you might consider. All these magazines have either been in my library or are currently in my library.
American Girl – very popular for all ages
The Cricket Group has a number of magazines they publish. Each magazine has a theme and all the articles, activities, and such are focused on that particular theme. These magazines are ones that we keep for reference like a book. We don’t discard them. Note: Not all of these magazines will be appropriate for your school. I really like the Cricket magazine that has stories and poetry, but occasionally the theme will be something like dragons or witches, so I don’t subscribe to this one. Consider writing to Cricket and requesting a packet to preview.
Appleseeds – cultural or historical topics for ages 6 - 9
Ask – science, history, inventors, artists for ages 6 - 9
Cobblestone – American history themes for ages 9 - 14
Dig – archaeology themes for ages 9 - 14
Faces – children and cultures around the world for ages 9 - 14
Odyssey – science for ages 9 – 14
Kids Discover – also has themes for each issue. The themes range from science, history, biography, current events, and more. This magazine is also one that we keep for reference. Appropriate for ages 9 – 14.
Ranger Rick – standard magazine on animals for kids.
Science World – current science topics; our 7th and 8th grades are usually the ones that use this magazine.
Current Health Teens – health and nutrition issues; also usually used by 7th and 8th grades.
Choices – a Scholastic magazine about teen issues and choosing the right thing to do. Our counselor requested this magazine and it has been a good purchase for us.
Kiki – this is a newer magazine that has fashion and design in it. The focus is not on being fashionable, but more on the design aspects of fashion. The clothing is appropriate and modest, without being weird or outlandish. Readers are given ideas on how to sew items, patterns, and much more. Ask for a sample issue if you have questions.
We also subscribe to Model Airplane News, Model Railroader, Motocross Action, Mountain Bike Action, National Geographic Kids, Ski, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Radio Control Car Action, and Ski. I am not sure that all of these are needed any longer and will do a survey of the students to find out which ones they actually read and want.
We have a few magazines for parents such as Consumer Reports, Popular Science, and National Geographic. National Geographic is donated to us by a family after they finish reading theirs.
People ask me how long they should keep magazines. If it is a popular magazine that quickly dates itself, discard it after five years or sooner if you need to. If it is a magazine that kids keep coming to no matter how old the issue is, such as American Girl, then keep them as long as they are still intact. We even do some minor mending on these. Use the needs of your library to help you decide.
I hope you have a great week. We are in the midst of the coldest weather I have ever been in. I hope you keep warm.
Audrey
Do you have any magazines in your library for kids to read? I hope so. If not, then here are some that you might consider. All these magazines have either been in my library or are currently in my library.
American Girl – very popular for all ages
The Cricket Group has a number of magazines they publish. Each magazine has a theme and all the articles, activities, and such are focused on that particular theme. These magazines are ones that we keep for reference like a book. We don’t discard them. Note: Not all of these magazines will be appropriate for your school. I really like the Cricket magazine that has stories and poetry, but occasionally the theme will be something like dragons or witches, so I don’t subscribe to this one. Consider writing to Cricket and requesting a packet to preview.
Appleseeds – cultural or historical topics for ages 6 - 9
Ask – science, history, inventors, artists for ages 6 - 9
Cobblestone – American history themes for ages 9 - 14
Dig – archaeology themes for ages 9 - 14
Faces – children and cultures around the world for ages 9 - 14
Odyssey – science for ages 9 – 14
Kids Discover – also has themes for each issue. The themes range from science, history, biography, current events, and more. This magazine is also one that we keep for reference. Appropriate for ages 9 – 14.
Ranger Rick – standard magazine on animals for kids.
Science World – current science topics; our 7th and 8th grades are usually the ones that use this magazine.
Current Health Teens – health and nutrition issues; also usually used by 7th and 8th grades.
Choices – a Scholastic magazine about teen issues and choosing the right thing to do. Our counselor requested this magazine and it has been a good purchase for us.
Kiki – this is a newer magazine that has fashion and design in it. The focus is not on being fashionable, but more on the design aspects of fashion. The clothing is appropriate and modest, without being weird or outlandish. Readers are given ideas on how to sew items, patterns, and much more. Ask for a sample issue if you have questions.
We also subscribe to Model Airplane News, Model Railroader, Motocross Action, Mountain Bike Action, National Geographic Kids, Ski, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Radio Control Car Action, and Ski. I am not sure that all of these are needed any longer and will do a survey of the students to find out which ones they actually read and want.
We have a few magazines for parents such as Consumer Reports, Popular Science, and National Geographic. National Geographic is donated to us by a family after they finish reading theirs.
People ask me how long they should keep magazines. If it is a popular magazine that quickly dates itself, discard it after five years or sooner if you need to. If it is a magazine that kids keep coming to no matter how old the issue is, such as American Girl, then keep them as long as they are still intact. We even do some minor mending on these. Use the needs of your library to help you decide.
I hope you have a great week. We are in the midst of the coldest weather I have ever been in. I hope you keep warm.
Audrey
Monday, December 2, 2013
Book Donations
Greetings!
Can you believe it is December already! I remember my grandparents and my parents talking about how quickly time passes, but it seemed to drag for me. Now I totally understand.
Very soon people will be cleaning and getting rid of things from their homes and sending them to thrift stores. When they come to books that they no longer need or want, they may think of you and bring them for you to use. Some of the books will be real treasures and you will be glad to have them, but some will be old, out of date, and not really useful for your library. So how should you handle this situation? You may have no problem with this, but I have had this happen so many times, that I have a standard speech I give. I am happy to share it with you.
“Thank you so much for the books. I will be happy to look through them and see which ones we need for the library. If I find that there are some that we don’t need, is it OK with you if I find another place for them, such as a classroom or would you rather have them back?”
At this point, the kind soul usually tells us to please keep them, they don’t want them. Now you are at liberty to do what you want with the books.
I look through the donations and see what we need in our library. I process for the library the books that we need. I may notice a book or two that I don’t need, but I know that a particular classroom studies that subject or I feel that it would be better used there than the library. Some duplicate copies are put in my “Sale” shelf or take to a used book store. I have credit at my local used book store and save up to get copies of books that I want or need. You also might sell your donations through an online source such as Amazon or Alibris. If you don’t want to bother with this, do not despair. You might have a parent or church member already doing this and can just add your books to their ‘store’ and sell them for you. Keep an eye out for old reading books as these can be valuable, particularly the Alice and Jerry series books.
I have a few of the old readers that I have processed for the library and encourage students to read. So consider that option, as well.
Good luck with your book donations.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Can you believe it is December already! I remember my grandparents and my parents talking about how quickly time passes, but it seemed to drag for me. Now I totally understand.
Very soon people will be cleaning and getting rid of things from their homes and sending them to thrift stores. When they come to books that they no longer need or want, they may think of you and bring them for you to use. Some of the books will be real treasures and you will be glad to have them, but some will be old, out of date, and not really useful for your library. So how should you handle this situation? You may have no problem with this, but I have had this happen so many times, that I have a standard speech I give. I am happy to share it with you.
“Thank you so much for the books. I will be happy to look through them and see which ones we need for the library. If I find that there are some that we don’t need, is it OK with you if I find another place for them, such as a classroom or would you rather have them back?”
At this point, the kind soul usually tells us to please keep them, they don’t want them. Now you are at liberty to do what you want with the books.
I look through the donations and see what we need in our library. I process for the library the books that we need. I may notice a book or two that I don’t need, but I know that a particular classroom studies that subject or I feel that it would be better used there than the library. Some duplicate copies are put in my “Sale” shelf or take to a used book store. I have credit at my local used book store and save up to get copies of books that I want or need. You also might sell your donations through an online source such as Amazon or Alibris. If you don’t want to bother with this, do not despair. You might have a parent or church member already doing this and can just add your books to their ‘store’ and sell them for you. Keep an eye out for old reading books as these can be valuable, particularly the Alice and Jerry series books.
I have a few of the old readers that I have processed for the library and encourage students to read. So consider that option, as well.
Good luck with your book donations.
Have a great week.
Audrey
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