Wes Fryer on Copyright and Fair Use

          This chapter provided a handy acronym to help remember the different aspects of copyright, Fair Use, and ways to bypass it in education.  The acronym is "Harry Potter Can Fly," meaning Homegrown, Public Domain, Creative Commons, and Fair Use.  Homegrown media are things that you create yourself, or that your family has created and you have the permission to use.  However, this does not include pictures taken of copyrighted or trademarked material.  Public Domain is the category that covers media that was created and distributed by the government or has been around long enough to have lost its ability to copyright claims, such as older music and photos.  Public Domain items can be used anywhere, commercially or not, and without having to ask for permission.  Creative Commons provides special licenses to material that a creator has posted or distributed that means that anyone is free to use it.  However, the creator can determine how they would like Creative Commons to cover their material and what aspects are covered free of copyright restrictions.  For example, a creator can distribute a song, but apply a creative commons license that prevents its use in commercial resale, or prevents the consumer from editing it.  Finally, Fair Use is a set of guidelines that list when the use of copyright material is okay without permission from the copyright owner.  Fryer warns that it is not a law, but merely protection that can be used in a situation where the copyright owner sues or expects payment for the material's use.  Fryer also advises the use of Wikipedia to help educate students on creative commons, fair use, public domain, and copyright, as well as examples of pictures or media for each.
          I believe that a big way in which to prevent people from making mistakes or other bad decisions it to give them the knowledge they need to make better ones or to do things properly.  In my future classroom, I will want to make sure that my students know and understand what the law on copyright and Fair Use guidelines are telling them.  I want them to understand that these laws and guidelines are out there to protect them as future creators and contributors to culture, not to hinder their ability to do so.  Also, by including it as a large aspect of any project or presentation rubric, I want students to understand that it holds a lot of weight in the classroom and the world.  I would also want to describe the consequences of the violation of copyright law and how that can affect them in the future.