Monday, March 3, 2008

Copyright and Fair Use SR

After taking the quiz on copyright and fair use, I realized I do not know as much about these laws as I probably should. There were a few surprises when I looked at the correct answers, and the following are the answers I got wrong.
1. I thought the first question was false because you can not copy programs, but the law does allow archival copies, and in some cases, lost, stolen, or damaged originals to be replaced with copies. This is very helpful for schools to be able to copy lost, stolen, or damaged disks and probably saves them money too.
2. I got number two wrong because I thought it was a violation of the law. However, you are allowed to distribute software through a server as long as one copy is not being used simultaneously.
3. Number seven is actually true because the school site is protected. The school needs to monitor the Web hits on the site to make sure the outside world isn’t getting in.
4. I thought number twelve was false as well, but it turned out to be true. Manufacturers are instituting blocking technology, which is authorized under the law, so newer material blocks educators from their constitutional right to use materials for teaching. This is unfortunate because there are some great resources teachers could use, but it is becoming more difficult for them to do so.
5. Number thirteen is true because if you can use other people’s intellectual property without permission, then your own work can be used without permission.
6. This answer was very surprising to me. The correct answer turned out to be false because videos are not covered under fair use when they are used for entertainment or reward, which was described in the situation for the Back-to-School night.
7. I thought the answer for number sixteen would be false, but it is actually true. Teachers have the right to use materials that are technologically blocked, but it should be used to unlock content for students, and not for personal use.
8. I thought number twenty would be true only because I have seen it done so many times that I thought it would be legal. However, it is against the law to sell copies of work to recover the costs of reproduction.

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