Policy Brief Part 2

Copyright

Introduction
According to the Educational Cyberplayground website, copyright is the legal right granted to an author, a composer, a playwright, a publisher, or a distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work (1997). There are many works that are protected, such as literary, musical, and motion picture works. There are also works that are not protected, such as works containing information that is commonly available and contains no originality (The Copyright Society of the USA, 2008). This is not even the beginning of what copyright is or how it applies to our teachers in Central. Our teachers may currently be violating copyright laws without knowing or understanding it. We need to be sure that our staff is aware of these things so that they stay on the safe side of the law.

Option 1
Provide workshops within our required 18 hours of yearly professional development to complement the plethora of workshops already offered.

Pro – All of the faculty members would be able to take the workshop at their convenience if they are interested. As they fill up, more workshops could be offered. In this way, those interested would be educated and those not interested could take workshops in which they are interested.

Con – While having copyright workshops is a great idea, there is a major drawback. The point of offering the workshops is to educate the staff. However, not everyone will choose to take the workshops. Even if everyone would want to take them, there is no feasible way to schedule enough workshops for everyone to take them.

Option 2
Provide in-service for all staff members.

Pro – Providing in-service for all staff members would ensure that everyone becomes educated on copyright issues for educators. Staff members would learn how copyright applies to every aspect of their jobs. They could be educated about fair use and how to apply fair use principles to their lessons.

Con – Providing in-service on copyright is a great idea, but it takes away from other pressing issues within the district. There are precious few opportunities to address the entire staff during the school year. Those opportunities are needed to score writing assessments as a grade level, have staff-development on new programs and initiatives, and learn about new ways to integrate technology in the classroom.


References
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/copyrightlaw.html
http://www.csusa.org/caw/caw_2006_teachers_articles_basics.htm