Ethics
I decided to pick a topic this week that relates to our current module and also confuses me. I think it confuses many other people as well. When talking about ethics in non computer fields I have learned that there are some tricky situations where you need to use your gut feeling to determine what is right and wrong. When knowing what you can and cant do with computers in my opinion is a little more difficult.
Before I go into talking about fair use policies let me give everyone some background on the small daily struggles I have encountered. First when wanting to share a PowerPoint or other presentation with colleagues. Is it appropriate to "use" these resources at a team or school level? Next things like using pictures and other media in my Office Mixes. I sometimes feel confused if they resources are "fair use" or not.
So I have always heard about fair use and how great it is for teachers. One day when wanting to use some type of media and share it with colleagues I was frustrated I did not know what was allowed and not allowed to be used and shared. I did some research on fair use and found there are four questions to ask or areas to assess, This sounded pretty straight forward but I was still left confused and even more frustrated. Why cant I have a simple yes or no answer. Yes you can share this media with anyone and everyone or no you can not.
I try my best as an educator, academic and professional to follow fair use as well as other ethical guidelines when integrating technology resources. I am proud to analyze and evaluate my use of other peoples work. As a teacher it is my job to model ethical and responsible academic behavior.
During the past week I tried to find some websites that can better help myself and others in understanding fair use. I stumbled across a resource that not only talks about the four factors but also gives examples:
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/
I have been reading over and surfing this site for a couple of days now. I like how it references case law. I enjoy reading about real world examples. Also, the website does a great job giving examples you can practice with. You can read information and determine if fair use is appropriate. The website also talks about the public domain and resources covered within that. This is my favorite site for helping understand proper ethical behavior related to fair use.
Mike
1 comment:
Mike,
I like your honestly about fair use. I too struggle with what is "allowed" and what is not. I think my way of handling it, is to always cite where I get my information or just write a little blurb about my intentions. It is so hard with all this texting, blogging, social media and so forth because that is becoming our form of communication. With that, reading something someone wrote can be misinterpreted and the intentions might not be clear. I read the article that you linked, and I liked the four factors judges consider:
the purpose and character of your use
the nature of the copyrighted work
the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
the effect of the use upon the potential market.
- See more at: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/#sthash.zFZdTGUd.dpuf
I think that these are great guidelines to use. Also, I think that if you are questioning yourself, that maybe you should not share or investigate before you publish! Great blog and very truthful...we all are struggling with the use of technology because what we post, write and share represents who we are!
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