Thing 17: Fair Use

This past year I was enrolled in a class at Hamline University called "Education Law'. . .The instructor was Thomas Coughlin, a long-time administrator for the Lakeville Public School. . .For a group presentation and a written term paper, I investigated the law surrounding the "fair use" exception to the use of copyrighted materials as it relates to educators. . .Among other things, I discovered many public educational institutions that publish very helpful guides to "fair use" and education. For example, the University of Minnesota Libraries publishes on their website their "General Principles of Fair Use in Education" as a guiding policy for the University Libraries. Their simple, but effective, policy statement serves as a model for any school or school district seeking a written policy for this important area. . .Also, several institutions supplement their policy statement with a "fair use checklist" for staff and students to utilize when conducting an examination to determine if a particular use of copyrighted material is fair, and thus exempt from copyright law limitations. For example, the Copyright Management Center at Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis (more typically known by the acronym "IUPUI") has produced a simple and user-friendly checklist for staff and students. . .I believe every school should have a similar checklist available to all staff and students to prevent possible legal challenges to the use of copyrighted material. . .I have spoken with my building principal about making a staff development presentation concerning "fair use" next August priot to the beginning of classes. . .If anyone would like a copy of my PowerPoint presentation and/or paper concerning "fair use" feel free to contact me and I will be happy to forward the materail to you. . .drfaust