Abstract
Intellectual pursuit and the recognition of ideas is a central concept. Copyright attempts to protect the rights of intellectual creators while balancing those rights with the needs for access. As technologies have expanded, and their production has become more sophisticated, the legal regulations surrounding their use have become more complex. With the advent of the interactive Web 2.0 and increased resource sharing, as well as growth in distance learning opportunities, complying with the legal use of Information Technology can be daunting. In any case, leaders and other educators should be aware of the more important aspects of technology-related copyright laws and regulations. This article provides an overview of copyright law and fair use for educational research purposes. It explains different options for intellectual production and sharing, and notes administrative actions to support copyright compliance.
TopIntroduction
In today’s digital world, leaders and other educators can manipulate a wide variety of information for authentic projects. In the process, everyone needs to acknowledge the idea creators and their intellectual property.
As technologies have expanded, and their production has become more sophisticated, the legal regulations surrounding their use have become more complex. With the advent of the interactive web 2.0 and increased resource sharing, as well as growth in distance learning opportunities, complying with the legal use of information technology can be daunting. In any case, leaders and other educators should be aware of the more important aspects of technology-related copyright laws and regulations. This chapter provides an overview of copyright law and fair use for educational research purposes.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Fair Use: The legal conditions under which one can use copyrighted material without obtaining permission and paying royalties
Open Source: Coding that is freely available to the public, usually applied to software development
Copyright: Laws that regular the use of the work of a creator
Creative Commons: A nonprofit organization that seeks to make creative work available for others to build on while respective intellectual property rights
Intellectual Property: Any intangible asset that consists of human knowledge and ideas; the ownership of ideas
Web 2.0: Interactive web; enables people to collaborate and share online
License: Permission granted by authority to exercise certain rights and privileges that would otherwise constitute an illegal act
Digital Rights Management: Access control technologies used to product the copyright of electronic media