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Copyright - What is it, officially?
The copyright law and the courts (Legal Resources on the Web) have provided exceptions to the rules which govern the behavior of teachers, students and schools. In general terms, teachers are allowed to make "fair use" of materials for instructional purposes. "Fair use" has been interpreted to include those limited uses which are not likely to deprive a publisher or an author from income. A teacher might make a copy of an article or a page from a book for use with a class to support a particular concept, but they may not make copies of the whole book or workbook for the entire class and use the copies as class texts. They are expected to buy them. For a detailed description of which practices have been shown to be permissible under the law, check the Bellingham Board Policy on Copyright which was drafted by an attorney with copyright expertise.

 

 A copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to authors of "original works of authorship." This includes literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other creative works. Material not protected by copyright (or otherwise protected) is available for use by anyone without the author's consent.

This screen cast gives you a little Information about the Tech Act Senate Bill 487 and how it impacts schools and teachers. This bill allows teachers to use copyrighted material for classroom use without penalty under the law. You must however get the material from a legitimate site and you must  document your source.

Hall Davidson began teaching in 1971.  He left the classroom to teach math on television in Los Angeles on an Emmy-winning program and spent 20 years at Los Angeles area PBS stations  He joined Discovery Education in 2005 where he blogs, creates webinars, works in educational partnerships and serves as director of Global Learning Initiatives . He has spoken about technology and education to audiences around the world.