Copyright for teachers & librarians in the 21st century

Here is a practical copyright handbook designed to help librarians, media specialists, technology coordinators and specialists, and teachers stay within copyright law while making copyrighted print, non-print, and Web sources available to students and others. Library educator Rebecca Butler explains fair use, public domain, documentation and licenses, permissions, violations and penalties, policies and ethics codes, citations, creation and ownership, how to register copyrights, and gives tips for staying out of trouble.

She explains copyright considerations for the web, television, videos and DVDs, computer software, music, books, magazines, and journals--materials that can create a day-to-day challenge for educators and require this resource's careful guidance. Up-to-date coverage includes:

iPods and other hand-held devices (including cell phones that access the Internet) blogs, wikis, Pod-casts, RSS feeds and Nings Second Life and other Internet world environments social networks (FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.) Moodle, Skype, and similar digital communication tools social bookmarking, web syndication and video streaming TIVO and similar systems deep-linking computer, video games and gaming Open-sourcing / Creative Commons

Butler also covers how to deal with those who would have you break the law; orphan works; file sharing; distance education; digital rights management; the law: classroom exemption, handicap exemption, library exemption, other important federal exemptions in the K-12 schools, parodies, and state laws; copyright lawsuits; relationship of plagiarism to copyright; and copyright and privacy.

Both a self-education tool and a practical guide, the book makes clear just what teachers and librarians can and cannot do in the classroom or library. Essential background is provided for everything from the basic concepts of copyright law to specific applications of it for various types of media. Figures and flowcharts throughout make the book easy to follow and understand. Appendices feature U.S. copyright law excerpts and resources for further information.

Introduction to copyright law : what is copyright? -- Fair use : when do you need to ask for permission? -- Public domain : is there such a thing as free material? -- Obtaining permission : how can you legally obtain use of works? -- Further important copyright subjects : what other copyright issues do you need to understand? -- The Internet and copyright law : everything on the Web is considered implied public access, right? -- DVDs, CDs, video streaming and on demand, and copyright law : can you use such movie formats legally in your classroom? -- Television and copyright law : TV is free, isn't it? -- Computer software and copyright law : why is documentation important? -- Music/audio and copyright law : who will know if you copy it? -- Multimedia and copyright law : how confusing! can you borrow a variety of works for your production? -- Print works and copyright law : is it legal to copy print works for class at the last minute? -- Distance education and copyright law : how is this different from applying copyright law in a face-to-face classroom? -- Conclusion : what does all of this mean for K-12 teachers and librarians?.