Copyright Guidelines and Teachers

After reviewing an abundance of literature on copyright laws, I've gained a better overall perspective on what it means to be an ethical educator. For instance, I now know that teachers cannot distribute whatever materials they so choose. Instead, they have to be cognoscente of what they issue to their students and, in some cases, seek permission from the given author. Little did I know, perhaps due to the fact that so many of my own teachers have violated copyright laws, that this was such a prevalent topic in education. Like so many other areas in the field, however, I think copyright controversies develop from a lack of funds. Students can't afford books, no problem, we'll just duplicate what we need from the net. It's important to avoid following in these footsteps not only because it's unethical, but also because it's against the law. For me, though, this situation is especially difficult; that is, I find it troubling to fault a teacher who is simply trying to facilitate learning.

Those teachers that religiously follow copyright guidelines can do so by adhering to fair use policies. For example, upon using someone else's poem, teachers can only issue up to 250 words. Guidelines such as these exist for nearly every type of document: books, newspapers, magazines, prose, short stories, essays, web articles, music, broadcast programs, etc. A more detailed explanation of these regulations can be viewed at this link . While these guidelines are certainly necessary (without them we'd be robbing brilliant authors of their rewards and recognition), I find it unsettling that so many teachers teach without the materials they need.