Fair Use and Education

After taking the test, I realized I knew less then I thought when it came to copyright and fair usage. The articles we read describes that the reason some people tend to misuse works is due to "ignorance and misperception" (Johnson 2). This is where the misunderstnading of fair use come into action. As Johnson states, "Educators too often interpret fair use as 'any use so long as it is done in school' or 'if it benefits the kids, it must be okay' or 'we aren’t making any money on it' (2). All of which I thought where legitimate enough, but it turns out that there are four factors to be considered when crossing a situation that you are unsure of the fair law. One, the nature of the use, (is it commercial or educational), two, the nature of the work itself. For example, while we were taking the quiz, it asked us a question about our old friend, Bill Nye the Science guy. Because of the educational purpose of the show, specific rights are granted to educational uses. The third factor is the amount that is being used which carries on to the forth factor regarding the effect the use or misuse of the work has on the general market.
With all of this to remember, as a teacher, it may become tricky to use certain works rightfully. Nonetheless, it is still important to refer back to the Cornell Copyright Center, if you are unsure of the copyright law in a certain situation. This is because the Cornell Copyright Center "provides a useful chart that outlines the current copyright terms for various types of work" (Langran 3).