Today we're going to talk about students' rights in copyright. It's important to remember as an educator that students own copyright, too. You know, they have the same rights in copyright that everyone else does, so their work becomes copyrighted the same way that everyone else does, which is immediately when it's fixed in tangible form. And if you're an educator, I often say, or say that one of the best things you can do is to think of the golden rule. >> Mm. >> Even though it's not a legal theory. >> [LAUGH]. >> How would you want your copyrights to be treated and it's a good idea to the extent you can do the same thing for your students as well. If a student is a minor, also the parent or guardian may have a say in how the cop, the student's copyrights are treated as well. Just like in most situations in life. Minors don't have the ability to make agreements on their own without the consent of the parent or guardian. >> What are some situations when an educator might want to reuse a student's work? >> Well, educators often want to use one student's work as an example for other students where, you know, a student's done an exemplary job either writing a paper or doing some sort of assignments. So that's one example where works of students are used to essentially inspire or even direct other students. Sometimes work that students do might want to be highlighted on a website or a blog post, so then you get into distribution of that copyrighted work. You know, to the world through the internet. And projects can help students learn, you know, how to interact with the public. There are projects that are being launched on various campuses around students really learning how to have a web presence and what that means. And of course, the things that students write for those websites of theirs are their own copyrights, and are protected as all other copyrighted things are protected. So there's also situations I'm sure where students may want to reuse the work of other students. So do you have some examples around that Ann? >> Mimic the examples you just gave. So, for example sometimes a student wants to make a project that builds on another student's work, in a way that perhaps is a derivative work. I say this sometimes with with group projects of various kinds. Sometimes a student wants to use, reuse another students work for critique or for review in some way. Sometimes a student is making a creative work that accompanies another student's work. Such as for example, a movie that accompanies music or something like that. There are also some reasons why educators should treat students' copyrights respectfully that have a pedagogical basis. First of all, it's the right thing to do, legally and ethically, to treat students copyright respectfully. It helps students learn to take their own work seriously. >> Hm. >> When I was an art student, more these many years ago, it was really a powerful moment when I realized I had copyrights,. >> Mm. >> Wow! Even I have copyrights. And it also helps to model the behavior that you want your students to adopt in reference to other, other people's work too. >> Yeah, as you said earlier it's really gets down to the golden rule. >> Mm-hm. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So there are a number of ways that educators can really make it a point to treat their students copyright seriously. One is ask permission of the student or if the student's a minor their parent or guardian. And be very clear about how the work is going to be used, so if the work is going to be posted as an example for other students, in that case it would really only be distributed to students in that class. That might be something the instructor wants to do one semester, or it might be something they want to do ongoing, and so that should be clear. And there is a distinction between making that copy available to students in the class, or on the web, for example. Where anyone in the world can read it. It's also really important that instructors keep a record of the permissions granted if theres ever a question in the future. Having that record is very helpful. And always attributing the work to the person who created it. >> Yeah, yeah. >> While your early artworks may not be the ones you're proudest of, they're still yours and really should be attributed to you. So in educational settings, there also may be requirements regarding student's copyright. Do you want to talk a little bit about that? >> The Federal laws around classroom grades and performance and attendance come into play with some of these. Many educational institutions have some sort of policy, a best practice about using students' work. Some universities claim a non-exclusive right to use a student's work, and so it behooves an educator to learn what he or she can about that institutional policies and any other laws that might be in place with regard to copyright. In addition there may be situations where a student wishes to keep his or her work private for a variety of personal reasons, that don't really figure into any law or policy, but that are important to that individual. Thank you for joining us today. We are taking one more step in the journey to become copyright mavens.
